Feral Family Affairs
by Canucklehead Cowgirl
Summary: Part Three - a continuation of 'Surprise for a Feral' and 'Natural Feral Behaviors'. NOT a stand alone. Please read the other two to catch up. The dream goes on as the little feral family tries to find their place in the world, battling old foes and new problems as they crop up.
1. About Damned Time

The little brunette was pinning her hair up, little curls cascading over her shoulders, her makeup already pristine, accentuating her eyes with a little gold that drew attention to her deep brown eyes.

"You just about ready, darlin'?" Logan growled out before resting his hands on her arms and leaning in to kiss her neck, unable to stop himself as he worked his way slowly and purposefully up to her ear, giving her a little nip as she rested her hand over his.

"I can be late. You can't." she said giving him a squeeze.

"Like hell. I'm not goin' without you." he told her, finally standing upright his hands on his wife's bare shoulders. She smiled at his reflection as he smirked in return. It had been a long couple of months. He'd pushed her from the moment the twins were born to pull herself together, knowing that depression and K was not a good mix, and that she always did best when she was in top form. She was nearly there, her biggest complaint being that she had to eat like a horse all the time to keep her weight up while breastfeeding the twins. They had almost an hour to get to the other side of the property where Kitty and Piotr were finally, after years of tiptoeing around each other, FINALLY getting married. K swiveled in her seat, rising up to face him as he smiled holding her at arms length to look her over.

"Sure don't look like a woman that just had twins a few months ago." he commented, leering at her. She narrowed her eyes and swatted him.

"You, mister, will have to wait until after the ceremony AND your dance with her." she told him as he pulled her close, already pulling her leg over his hip. "I'm serious. You have to wait."

"Fine. But you're going to make it worth my time, woman." he growled, his hand still headed north until she grabbed his wrist.

"Just because we got the green light from Hank to have sex again does not mean you can just tear my panties off every time you feel like it" she growled back, Logan shifting gears quickly.

"You sayin' you don't wanna" he purred, K's eyes dilating as he leaned into her, backing her across the room.

"No – just uh – we have somewhere to be." she finished staring at his mouth as he pressed her against the wall, kissing her as he held her leg behind the knee. Just then as she was melting, Jubilee's voice rang through the house, Logan breaking the kiss and leaning close.

"Damn. We're pickin' up on this later." he growled, K nodding wordlessly as he let her leg slide down to the ground, moments before Jubilee made her way to the door way

"Good god, you two. Am I going to need to get the hose on you?" She griped, hands on her hips.

"Yeah. Make it more interesting" he growled before taking K's hand and dragging her behind him past Jubes.

"Jeez. The guys have the twins and Jean is almost done with Abbey's hair. Are you sure she's going to be able to do the flowers on her own?" Jubes asked K as they rushed up to the mansion. K nodded.

"She'll have Charles to help her focus if she needs to. It will be fine." K replied. When they got up to the mansion, they made their way to Charles' office where the men were gathered, passing the two babies around – the women all very preoccupied with finishing up the preparations on the bride. Scott was cuddling with little James and Piotr had Rose, both little ones fast asleep.

"Are you sure you guys are alright with the little ones for a bit longer?" K asked, Charles grinning at her.

"Of course, the only problem is everyone wants to hold them." Charles told her as Logan took James from Scott. K smiled and thanked them before running upstairs where the women were doing their final preparations for the wedding. They all looked stunning, Kitty's hair was pulled up, accentuating her long graceful neck. Kittys mother was in tears as her daughter was finally ready to go. K smiled when she saw her, making sure to be careful when she gave her a hug.

"Congratulations, Katherine. You're stunning." K told her. Kitty giving K a once over as they stepped apart, Abbey toddling over to her mother looking like a little princess. K picked her up to nuzzle her before the ceremony.

"Holy shit, K – it's like you didn't even have the twins. That's just not fair to the rest of us." Kitty said, grinning, knowing how uncomfortable K was when people talked about her figure.

"And on that note, I'm headed back down. You be good for Auntie Jeannie and Kitten, OK?" she said to Abbey, the little one grinning in response, giving her mother a little kiss. Right then, Logan knocked on the door – Jean had sent for him to come get Kitty.

"You girls set to go?" he asked, stopping in his tracks when he saw Kitty. "Punkin' – you look perfect. Too damn good for Petey." he grinned, Kitty blushing. He stole a kiss from K as they passed each other, telling her he'd see her in a minute. K walked with Charles to the side yard nearest the forest. The trees were to serve as a backdrop, their leaves in perfect full color. They took a seat in the front row on the bride's side, each of them holding one of the twins. K had taken the time to feed and change them before the ceremony and both were awake for now, smiling at whoever held them. The ceremony was lovely, Kitty even cried a little, hugging Logan like a lifeline before he handed her to Piotr, giving him a kiss right next to his mouth before he took his seat next to K, taking her free hand in his and leaning to her to give her a kiss. Kitty's mother kept her composure for most of the ceremony, a single tear falling as Kurt declared them as one before they kissed for the first time as a married couple, the crowd of X-Men, Avengers, Excalibur and even some of Magneto's Acolytes.

The reception was huge, people that couldn't make the wedding found time to come and wish the couple well. Kitty was slightly starstruck when Thor asked her for a dance. K and Logan stayed as long as they could, the little ones dictating when it was time for them to call it a night. Abbey getting overly tired, wanting only her father. She climbed into his lap, half asleep already as she nuzzled into his neck. Kitty rushed over before he could slip away, kissing both of them before they could leave. Storm and Jean gathered up the twins to carry down for K – Kitty needed a word before K left.

"Are you sure we can use the cottage?" Kitty asked as K gave her a hug, digging in her clutch as Piotr came over to the two women.

"Of course. You can use it whenever you want. Here. I got a copy of the key made for you. You can go anytime." K told her handing the key over before hugging her tightly. She stiffened up suddenly, and Kitty did the same, neither letting go.

"Katherine Anne." K said, scandalized suddenly, her eyes wide as she put an arms worth of distance between them. K's mouth was open as she stared at her. Kitty cracked asking for a moment from Piotr, who in light of seeing K's reaction was understandably a bit reluctant to leave as Kitty rushed K to a quiet corner.

"OK. OK. I know. I just found out last week. No one knows. I even went heavy on the perfume so Logan wouldn't catch it." Kitty said in a rush. "I'm going to tell Piotr right after the honeymoon, I swear." K grinned and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Congratulations, Kitty. Really. I want to be there when you tell Logan." K said grinning as Kitty blushed. They said their goodbyes and K rushed down to the boathouse, passing Jean and Storm on the way. When she got inside, Rose was crying a sad, hungry cry as her father kissed her. K kicked off her shoes and took the baby from Logan, turning her back to him, asking him to unzip her. She shimmied out of the dress, taking the little one to the bedroom to feed her. Just about the time she'd gotten Rose taken care of, James needed his turn. When they were both fed and changed, they passed out. Lots of excitement and full tummies made for tired children. When James was asleep, K began to pull the pins from her hair as she made her way to the bathroom, surprised when Logan stepped into the shower with her, a wicked grin on his lips.

…...

Things were very relaxed in the boathouse now that Hank had figured out what so far had proven to be a reliable means of keeping K from getting pregnant. No one was happier about it than K, finally able to relax without having to worry about another little surprise. She had been reasonably sure the twins were going to kill her, and when they were born Hank ended up keeping her a few days, pushing her to eat more under his constant supervision until her healing factor kicked in enough to bring up her muscle mass a little. The whole house had started an offensive on her, practically force feeding her, everyone concerned that the twins would drag her down further than last time. When she proved that she was more than keeping up with the twins, she pushed Logan to help her build muscle again. If she wasn't caring for their children (usually with another adult helping since everyone needed their baby fix) she was working out. The twins were 2 months old when she was back to her top form, matching Jubilee in the gymnastics department through the teen's coaching. The girls were still coming down to breakfast most mornings, the sisters were enchanted with the twins. It was a rare morning a few days after Kitty's wedding that Logan caught K by surprise. She'd just gotten done feeding the twins, Logan had fixed up Abbey, who then went on to play with her toys when Logan snatched up K around the waist, hauling her over to the bed.

"You really aren't going to say anything are ya?" he growled in her ear as he nipped at her.

"About what?" she replied, shocked at his sudden man handling.

"How far along is she?" he asked, his growl starting to fade.

"Oh." K said quietly. "I don't know. She hasn't told Pete yet. You better act surprised when she tells you too, or she'll think I told you." she replied.

"Did she really think I'd miss it?" he said, his face scrunched up.

"No. She was hoping you'd miss it. That's why she was wearing so much perfume." He considered her answer and just started to kiss her. "Logan. Hey." she sounded a little stressed. "Are you gonna play along?" He started to unbutton her shirt as she tried to wiggle out from under him. "Hey!"

"I'll play along if you do." he growled. She started to laugh as she began to kiss him back.

"Abbey's awake and playing alone. How about I owe you one?" she smiled at him. He grumbled to himself and rolled over, pulling her with so she was laying on him now.

"Fine. When does she get back?" he asked as K readjusted her position.

"She's at the cottage. She'll come back when she's ready."

…...

A week later the newlyweds returned quietly. Kitty made her way to see Hank before the welcoming committee got to her. As soon as she knew where she stood, she made her way to the boat house with Piotr. Logan's little family was having breakfast when they knocked on the door. K welcomed them in, James in her arms falling asleep with his hand in her shirt. When she turned to look at Logan, she shot him a warning glare. Kitty came in sheepishly, a little blush on her pale cheeks as she told Logan, who to his credit, played along perfectly, kissing her on the top of her head, congratulating the both of them as he hugged her before turning to Piotr.

"Goes double now, pal." he growled, a subtle warning against hurting Kitty.

"I'd deserve more, tovarich." Pete answered, smiling at his friend's good intentions. K handed James to Kitty.

"Here, get used to it." she said before picking up Rose and handing her to Piotr. "If you don't help her enough, I'll castrate you." K's subtlety entirely out the window as Piotr blinked, shocked at the little feral. The rarity of a threat from K making it seem more like a promise. She smiled at him as sweetly as she could muster and turned back to Logan who had his arms crossed and an eyebrow cocked at her, clearly in disbelief.


	2. Call of the Wild

A new routine was developing at the Xavier Institute, and Logan was getting tired of all of it. He was becoming unsettled, restless. Kitty saw it and started to worry for his family's sake. Nothing good ever came from him getting like this. She was worried he would do something that would end up leaving K alone with their small children. When she talked to Betsy about it, she shook her head.

"He's not going to leave them behind if he does go. He's learned from his mistakes. Don't worry. All is fine." Betsy had told her. Jean seemed to agree with Kitty however. They felt as though he was ripe to just jump ship. They were concerned enough to try to test the waters with K, both of them shocked when it seemed that K was even more jumpy and restless than he was. Maybe it wasn't him leaving they needed to worry about after all. He could be acting that way simply from his connection with her.

"K, are you alright?" Jean asked as they had tea with Charles one afternoon, Kitty now in attendance as Abbey played and the twins slept. K looked as if she'd had too much caffeine.

"Yeah, fine. I just … I gotta get outta here. Like not just this room, or this place. I have to GO. Somewhere. But I can't do it. Not yet. They're too small." she said, gesturing towards the little ones.

"Where do you need to go, K?" Charles asked, concerned that the little family may actually leave them for more than a breath of fresh air.

"I don't know. Logan's got so many commitments, I don't know that we could go at all. I feel the pull." Jean was confused.

"What pull?" she asked, but K couldn't describe it. In her frustration, she told Jean to take a peek for herself. She was wide eyed when after doing so.

"Wow. You need to go north." Jean said. K just nodded.

"You mean she wants to go north." Kitty corrected her, but Jean shook her head.

"No, she _needs_ to go. It's not a desire. It's deeper. I wonder if Logan has the same thing happening." she pondered. She made her way to see him after tea was through, even a taste of what K was feeling had her restless. When she found him, he was finishing up his combat class, the students bruised, sweaty and worn out.

"Hey Logan." Jean said as she watched the students pass her on their way out.

"You need somethin' Jeannie?" Logan asked, all business.

"Um, not really. I was just with K," she said, and he tightened his mouth and nodded, understanding now where this was headed. "Are you _both_ feeling the need to leave?" He shook his head a little.

"She's feelin' it bad. I need to go with her when she does leave, or I'm half afraid she won't come back. She's gonna have to do something about it soon too. She's just afraid to take the kids or leave em behind. That protective drive in her is a little scary sometimes. Got a real mama bear thing goin' on." he explained, leaning in the door frame. "I think I'm gonna have to take em up to the cabin. That oughta be far enough north to make her happy, and far enough away from other people to make me happy." he finished with a smirk.

A week later, they were on their way, K nervous and tense until they got into the cabin and dropped their bags. This was the first time they'd been away from their little ones. Jean swore on her life she'd care for them as her own, and Scott was tickled to help. He was hoping being around them would help Jean relax enough to forget about her self imposed pressure to have a child too.

...

As he let out a breath, she suddenly just stood very still, listening. Outside, the little forest creatures were starting to move around again, having all frozen when they came through. The birds were starting to chirp and the squirrels were running around the trees in their little furry squirrely battles, bitching at each other in little barks. She rolled her neck and bit her lip as she turned toward him. He was an arms length away when she opened her eyes again, and before she could smile at him, he was kissing her. Yep. This was precisely what she needed to center herself.

…...

Jean and Scott were having fun with Abbey especially. The twins still didn't do much more than eat and sleep with little periods of playing with things they could bite, or smiling at anyone near them. Abbey had started to talk clearly – she'd be silent for a while, sometimes days even, not even saying the little words she knew when she'd suddenly spit out an entire fully formed sentence. To top it off, she was easily one of the cutest little girls either had laid eyes on. Her hair was now long enough that she was asking for Jean to pull it back into pigtails, and would even sit still long enough for her to make two tiny french braids for her, grinning like a Cheshire cat when her hair was finished.

"How the hell did Logan have a part in making these good looking kids?" Scott said one day, shaking his head as Abbey tiptoed around the living room.

"Be nice, Scott. They're actually a lot like him, just without the years of abuse." Jean informed him. He was holding James at the moment, the little boy drawing him in for some reason, and actually favoring him over Jean.

Rose lit up best when her sister tried to help care for her. She had an extra twinkle in her eyes when Abbey was near her, and it was obvious to anyone the little girl couldn't wait until she was big enough to play with her.

By the time the week was over, Scott and James had turned into best buddies – at least as good as a grown man and a baby can be. He wouldn't go to sleep unless Scott was holding him, his little hand resting on Scott's neck as he sighed in his sleep. Poor Scott was so taken with him now that he kind of dreaded when Logan and K returned and took their children back. Jean saw how deeply taken he was with the little guy.

"Scott, we'll have some too, one of these days. Just look at these guys as a warm up." she said, trying to ease his mind. He nodded, laying the little man down finally, his twin sister cuddling up to him in her sleep. Abbey came over to Jean and Scott as they embraced, waiting for them to acknowledge her. When they did, Scott picked her up and she started in with her kissing game, clapping every time the two followed her wishes.

…...

Logan and K were searching for clothes. It had been a wild week at the cabin. Both had let out their wild side a lot more than they had in the past, probably scaring off the wild life for a good mile or two around them. Now though, she was centered again and the need to hold her children was now much stronger than the call of the north ever had been. Logan was in agreement. It had been fun, but they wouldn't likely do this again soon without bringing the little ones along. When they got back, Abbey positively squealed when she spotted her parents down the hallway, running to them tiptoed, arms out, throwing herself at her father when he knelt down to greet her, her little arms wrapped around his neck as she laughed into his shoulder. The twins were just waking up. K picked up Rose, the little girl clearly happy to see her, grinning her toothless grin as big as her face could hold. She jockeyed Rose around so she could pick up James too. He started to giggle when he saw her, giving her big sloppy baby kisses as a greeting, unwilling to let her go. Abbey slid down her father before he took Rose from K, James clearly needing a little extra mom attention.

"He really has taken a liking to Scott while you've been gone." Jean told them, Logan freezing and Scott turning red. James grinned at his father leaning toward him as he addressed the little boy.

"Izzat so, little guy?" he said, trading babies with K, James giving him the same treatment he did his mother. When the little ones had all their things arranged, the little family headed to the boat house, pleasantly surprised when they walked in to find that Jubilee and the girls had taken the liberty of thoroughly cleaning the place and setting out some fresh baked goodies for their return. It seems as though they were missed.

…...

Kitty was enjoying herself. She was the picture perfect little pregnant lady. Her bump was perfect, and she was gaining weight in a healthy manner, glowing as it were. Everyone was trying to make her comfortable, the whole house thinking that they were well versed now in taking care of an expectant mother. They were wrong. Not long after she arrived back she started becoming violently ill every afternoon, hypersensitive to most smells the rest of the time. She still wasn't to the level scent wise that Logan and K were on a daily basis, but her reactions to certain smells was uncomfortable for her. Gambit's cologne was on the top of the list. He was insulted at first, but when he realized she wasn't teasing, he changed his brand immediately. Even with the help of the whole house, she was becoming dehydrated from vomiting all the time. She escaped to the boathouse for some sympathy, hoping K would have a miracle cure for her. Kitty was shocked when K assessed her before telling her to have a seat, returning with a bottle of cold ginger ale.

"Try this for now, but wait around. Logan will be back. He can fix it." K told her, joining her to chat while they waited. Kitty told her of all the troubles she was having so far – most of them involving her stomach, and her desire for super crunchy pickles. K laughed telling her the only cravings she ever had was for fresh venison and berries. While they were comparing experiences, Logan came in, smiling and singed.

"Hey kitten, didn't expect to see you here. Somethin' wrong?" he asked, tossing his shredded charred cowl in the corner.

"Nausea. Extreme nausea." K said, nodding to Kitty as Logan furrowed his brow. He kneeled down next to her and offered her his open palm.

"Your hand, punkin'." Logan told her. Kitty reached out to him, nervous about what he was up to.  
"Relax, darlin'." he told her then he took a slow deep breath and firmly pressed on a spot just below her wrist, the queasy sensation drifting away in less than a minute. She stared at him a moment before breaking into a grin. She thanked him and gave him a hug asking K why she didn't just show her.

"I preferred to do it for her." Logan said, kissing his wife as he stood up. "Any excuse ta get my hands on her." he said to Kitty with a wink before heading off to clean up.

…...

It was in the wee hours of the night and Logan kissed K, waking her up unintentionally.

"Go back to sleep. I gotta go – big mission. Got some bad guys to shut down. Love you." he purred to her as she pulled him back for a proper good luck kiss. She smirked at him, quietly telling him she loved him and to come back safe before uneasily rolling over and trying to sleep, his pillow clutched tightly to her as she listened to the front door close.

Morning came and went, and no one was concerned. K was on edge, but it wasn't much beyond how she normally felt when he was on a big mission. Still, she couldn't relax. She left the little ones with Jean and Scott, Abbey more than happy to entertain herself for the most part. K needed to clear her head. She saddled up the Arab that came with one of the newer students. She'd brought it as a pet, but it had little to no training and K was working him in her spare time, trying to see if he'd ever be a suitable mount for a beginner. Today was not one of his good days. He was snorting and pawing and generally acting like a hyped up fruit loop, but K persisted. She took him to the round pen and worked him out before mounting up, trying to encourage him to settle before she climbed on. When she got in the saddle, he was ready to GO. He was a difficult horse, far quicker and smarter than the others in the barn. He was horrid right now for beginners, but exactly the kind of ride K needed to focus on something other than the doubt in the back of her head.

Nearly two weeks later, Charles finally sat down to tell K that something may have gone wrong on Logan's mission. It wasn't supposed to last that long, no where near. The original plan was a three day deal. She was sick. Where the hell was he? She turned to Jean, asking if she'd keep an eye on the little ones while she went after him, seeing as Charles had more or less pinpointed where he was. The Summers of course agreed.

"K, I'm a little worried something may happen to you too. What about the kids?" Scott said as K made ready to head out.

"Scott, you should know – Logan had said before Abbey was even born, that if anything bad happened to both of us, he wanted you and Jean to take over on the kids. I'm surprised he didn't say anything to you." K told him as she laced up her boots.

"Huh. I thought he hates me." Scott said, astounded. K stopped what she was doing, letting out a sigh of frustration.

"No, he doesn't hate you. You piss him off, no doubt about it, but he respects you too. Knows you're a good guy at heart, even when he's wanted to kill you. Just take it as a complement. Oh, and I'll be back for my kids. WITH my husband." She said pointedly. "So don't get too used to it." She didn't smile now. She was all business. She kissed the little ones one last time as they napped. Jean and Scott would stay at the boat house until K returned with Logan. She'd promised she'd bring him back one way or another. When she got to the hangar, Gambit was waiting for her.

"Figure you might wan a lil' help from Gambit." he said, his expression serious. She considered him a moment then nodded. A little back up couldn't hurt.

"Load up then. I wanna get him back fast." K said as she climbed into the mini jet, Gambit close on her heels.

"Where we goin' petit?" he asked settling in next to her.

"Madripoor."


	3. Mind Control

"They're coming for him. Will we be ready when they get here?" A man's voice echoed through the chamber.

"We're ready. What should we do with the woman when they arrive?" a second voice asked.

"Bring her in. We'll break her. Kill the extra one. We have no use of him." the first voice answered.

…...

K and Gambit made the decent into the tiny filthy island of Madripoor. There was a place near the docks that they could land, stash the jet. They hadn't contacted anyone there, not sure who was running the island these days, or which of the powers that be could possibly be more likely than the last to be the one holding Wolverine. All they knew was that was where Charles had found him. As the jet's engines wound down, K adjusted the wrist locator Scott had given her – a portable version of cerebro that should lead them right to him. Gambit had spent the better part of the flight filling her in on what they would probably run into there. K was admittedly nervous about rushing headlong into what could be best described as a pit of ninjas, but she needed him back. Gambit suggested they start at Logan's old bar – the Princess, currently run by Tyger Tyger to the best of Gambit's knowledge. K was cursing her senses as they made their way there. The streets were filthy. Garbage and human waste, the occasional rotting corpse hidden in an alley way. There was little that she could do to not feel ill at the assault on her nose.

"Smells worse than last time Gambit here. Must be awful for you, petit." Remy said low as they came up on the bar. He led the way, greeted by Tyger's bodyguard when he got to the bar.

"What are you doin' here, LeBeau? I thought we had an agreement." the wall of a man said to him. Remy just turned on the charm, and cranked up his empathic abilities, gently manipulating the man's emotions to favor them.

"We lookin' for an ol' friend. Tyger too busy to talk to Gambit herself?" he asked, hell, even K was a bit charmed. The bodyguard shook his head.

"I know what you're doin' LeBeau. But she wanted to talk to you anyhow. She knew you'd be coming soon. Who's the skirt?" he said, nodding toward K.

"She helpin' me. X-Man in trainin'." he replied. K thanked her stars she was wearing gloves. The man looked her up and down, and seeing no threat there, led them up to Tyger's place overlooking the bar below. She almost looked happy to see them.

"Remy LeBeau. I suppose you're in search of your missing X-Man. You won't find him here." she said, her face showed severe signs of stress. "I can tell you who has him though. You need to get him away from those people." Remy scrunched up his brows.

"Why, what dey doin'? Torture?" Remy asked, lighting up a cigarette. Tyger shook her head.

"They _have_ him. He's not himself. He's enforcing for them, and I dont' know how." suddenly she took in K. "Who's this? You don't drag along sidekicks."

"What do you mean they have him?" K said suspiciously, the hackles on her neck up. Suddenly Tyger's mouth dropped open.

"You're his wife, aren't you?" then wide eyed she turned to Remy. "Get her out of here – NOW. They want her too! You have to get her off this island immediately!" Remy opened his mouth to respond, just as a wave of ninjas broke through the windows of the bar, scattering patrons and workers alike, the three of them ducking down a moment as they began to pour through the open windows. Tyger started shooting, telling them to run. The only problem was there was no where to go. All they could do was fight their way out. Gambit was already on it, charged playing cards, chairs, glasses – you name it, he was making use of everything within reach. Tyger was shooting and dodging, hiding behind whatever cover she could find, wishing that Logan and his claws were here to strike some fear into them. She nearly dropped her gun when K popped her claws, launching herself into the nearest pack of ninjas, shredding just as well as Logan ever did. They kept coming in waves. Just when they thought they'd made their way close enough to leave, another wave of them came in, fighting just as viciously as they could, the three of them slowly losing the battle by sheer numbers. Tyger had run dry on ammo, and Gambit was low on cards and easily reachable objects, turning instead to his bo staff, swirling and jabbing as quickly as he was able, but even he was starting to wear down. K on the other hand was coated in blood, still slicing, stabbing, twisting and kicking anything that got too close to her. She was near exhaustion herself when suddenly they all just backed off. She was afraid to take her eyes off the quickly disappearing ninjas as they melted into the shadows. Gambit called out to her, but she didn't move, breathing heavily as she scanned the night. Something was wrong.

"K we gotta run – Time to go!" he said panting himself. He backed up a few steps when he saw her face fall, K whispering out a nearly soundless _no_ just before he attacked her, claws flying.

…...

Charles had been using the portable Cerbro to monitor K and Gambit's progress. When things started to go south in the bar with the ninjas, he called on Psylocke and Angel to go after them. Betsy knew something was wrong with Logan. His emotions were torn. He was doing something he didn't want to do. Something that went against everything in him. She was afraid it was an act that he'd not recover from, so when she and Warren left, she called up her old X-Force team mate, Deadpool to come and assist. They may need his special irritating brand of humor to get through this one, and Wade was more than willing to join the fight.

…...

K was terrified as she fought her husband. She did everything she could to push down the fears she had, the fear itself making her far less than efficient. He was vicious and fast. His eyes held no recognition of her as he lunged at her, clearly ready to kill. Gambit was screaming at her to cut him, but she couldn't bring herself to do it, instead dodging his blows my millimeters until his foot made contact, knocking her on her ass. He was on her before she could so much as raise a hand. He held her down, his fist under her chin, two claws already out, the third in – his classic interrogation method.

"What do you want." he growled at her, acid in his voice.

"You. I was looking for you." she said quietly. He'd cut her as she spoke, his eyes fixed on the cut as it disappeared, then he locked eyes with her, growling low.

"Who are you." somehow his tone was even nastier. She wasn't sure if she should answer him or not. Gambit beat her to it.

"She's yo wife, homme. Don't make a mistake wit her. Let her up." Gambit directed. Logan's eyes never left hers. She could feel his desire to believe them through the bond they shared.

"Smell me. If you don't remember me, go ahead and kill me. I won't fight you." she said, calm washing over her, knowing that if this didn't work, she may or may not heal from whatever he chose to do to her. He thought about it. Watching her for any sign of deception.

"If you move, you die." he told her as he directed her to move her arms to her sides. He knelt on her hands, immobilizing them so he could smell her. He leaned forward, and when he could smell nothing but blood on her, he tore open her top, trying to find a spot on her that wasn't bloodied. He was nearly to her hip before he took a deep breath, K's shirt wide open, exposing her to the open air as she waited for his verdict. She jumped when he kissed her hip bone.

"I do recognize you. You smell like you belong to me. But I can't remember. You say you're my wife?" he asked, watching her carefully. She nodded. "Then you _will_ do as I say." he growled, letting her up and grabbing her by the arm, pushing her ahead of him as they slipped into the night, Gambit following as closely as he could.

…...

He dragged her into a waiting car a few blocks from the bar, shoving her roughly into the back seat before joining her, the driver zipping them down the road. She started to sit up and he pulled her close, squeezing her throat as he looked into her face.

"If I find out you're lying, I will make you pay." his eyes were wild as he hissed at her.

"I never lie to you." she said calmly before he released her, letting her sit next to him, rubbing her throat, the bruises fading from how hard he'd squeezed. When the car came to a halt, far from the bar, in a very quiet and shady looking part of the island, he again grabbed her arm, dragging her along quickly. He took her into a large industrial type building, rushing through it until they hit a hidden elevator that took them down several stories under the building. She was getting nervous the further they got. This looked eerily like the elevator ride with Creed a few years ago. They made their way to the most plain looking of rooms – a long table and several men in it.

"I've got her. What do you want me to do with her now?" Logan said gruffly.

"Have her cleaned up, then keep an eye on her." the man told him. Nodding once, he began to drag her along. She was confused. She hadn't seen the man that was directing him, but his voice was hauntingly familiar. If he suspected the truth from her, why was he following these creep's orders?

"You don't believe me." she said to him as he began to tear off her clothes, smashing the portable cerebro unit under his boot as he stripped her. He cranked the water on and pushed her into the shower stall.

"Wash up." he replied, as if he hadn't heard a word. She began to wash as he'd directed, Logan watching her carefully as she did so. Before long, she was clean. Thoroughly scrubbed down. He didn't offer a towel to her, just again, pulled her behind him as he kept a quick pace. She was getting nervous now. She was worried before, but now, now it was eerie and her nerves were on end as she shivered from the cold. He slowed when they approached the end of the hall. She was worried what they had planned out now. He wrenched the door open and shoved her in, stepping in behind her and rushing her, one hand holding both of hers and the other roaming her body as he leaned in and smelled her neck. He growled in her ear before pushing her down onto a bed, removing his uniform as she turned to him. What the hell was going on? He grabbed her hands, holding them over her chest as he readied himself to take her. Suddenly she was scared of him. He was her husband, but he sure as hell wasn't acting like himself.

"Stop." she said, alarm in her voice. He looked her in the eyes as he leaned closer.

"You're my wife. I'll take whats mine." he growled out.

…...

Psylocke's little team was searching for them now. They ran into Gambit when they found the building they'd disappeared into.

"Any idea what this little hell hole is?" Warren asked as they watched the guards patrol the perimeter.

"Ooh ooh. Me! Me – I know." Deadpool said, waving his arm in the air like a small child. The other three stared at him a moment before Betsy raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Wade?" she said, already he was getting on her nerves.

"THAT is a really big building filled with bad guys and ninjas." Wade replied, grinning under his mask. She rolled her eyes.

"I knew that. I mean who is in charge of it? All I'm getting from the grunts down there is the Hand, but this is a bigger operation than they usually have in one place." she said returning her attention to the building.

"Oh, well, you want to know who hired the Hand then." Wade said, nodding thoughtfully. "Why don't we just go ask them?"

"We can't go ask them because they have Wolverine on mind control down there. _You _may heal quickly, but the rest of us don't have that luxury." Warren told him, already thinking it was a mistake inviting him along. Not long after this charming conversation, a long black limo pulled up. They watched with baited breath as a familiar skinny bald head popped up from the limo.

"Oh shit. I know that cat." Wade said. The tone of his voice was now completely serious. "There's your answer, kids. Another goddamned Weapon X raid. I knew those losers at SHIELD wouldn't hang on to him for very long." Wade snarled. Betsy watched the man walk into the building. He was smiling as he entered, his entourage in tow. Her mouth fell open.

"He's done it. He's got Logan under control. He's been sending him out on missions. He's been killing for them." Betsy said suddenly. She looked up at Warren.

"You have to get everyone here." she said wide eyed.

"Alright I'll call the professor and tell him to bring the X-Men." Warren replied, his jaw set.

"No. Not just the X-Men. We need everyone. Avengers, Excalibur, X-Force, Acolytes – we need everyone." she replied. Warren paled but turned and took off headed back to the jet to make his secure call.

"What do we do, boss lady?" Wade asked, clenching and unclenching his hands next to his pistols.

"You wait here, keep an eye on things and find all the entrances. Gambit and I are going to find our way in and see if we can pinpoint Logan and K. I still can't decipher if they want her for an another weapon or if they want her for insurance to use against him. Either way, we need to find them." The two men nodded and Betsy and Gambit slipped off, Betsy melting into the shadows. Gambit found his way in first – he'd picked a lock on a high up window, slipping in silently, creeping along the beams over the main floor of the building. He watched as a group of soldiers walked over to what looked like a flat wall, putting in a code on a hidden panel, which opened up an elevator. They disappeared behind the wall. Betsy was next to him in a heart beat.

_So, they're downstairs. I have their code for the elevator. I tapped into them while they keyed in their code. Should we follow them?_ She asked telepathically. Gambit nodded once and the two made their way to the elevator. There was only one option for floors other than the one they started on, and they punched it in, pressing themselves to the wall when the door opened, only to find no one in the corridor. They began to slink through the passageways, Psylocke searching out for Logan, perking up when she found him, leading Gambit toward him. They peeked into the room he was in – they were strapping him into a chair that looked like some sort of perverse electrical chair, leads and wires puncturing the back of his neck as they secured him, a faint click echoing in the chamber as they made some final adjustments. He was facing a surgical table that K was presently strapped to. The professor looked her over before giving a wave to someone in a control booth. The table made all kinds of noise as leads similar to Logan's drilled into her neck, stopping after a few minutes of agony for K. The professor rushed over. His men pulled her off the table and picked the hair up off her neck so he could cut into her. He dug around at the base of her skull for a moment, Logan growling at him as he did so. When he clearly couldn't find what he wanted he walked around to her and slapped her hard.

"How did you get my biometric system out?" he looked furious as he hit her again. "Who removed it? Tell me woman." He backhanded her again, not having given her a moment to respond. Infuriated he hit her again before turning to the control booth.

"Strap her down. No anesthetic this time. She needs a new biometric control. Weld it to her spine if you have to." he barked, walking toward the door as Logan's growls echoed the room. "Make him watch. It's clear he still has some … attraction to her." A plauge of white coats descended on the two of them, the bulk of them forcing K onto the surgical table, tying her tightly and wrenching her head into a nearly impossible to breathe position, offering full access to her spine and skull to the scientists while a trio of scientists made their way to Logan, jockeying up a means to hold him perfectly still, putting drops in his eyes to prevent him from even blinking. They laid out the biometric control system as the device Logan was in fired up – preparing to use whatever happened to K as fuel for their system in place on Logan. His heart rate jumped when she started screaming and struggling as the microfilament wires seemed to move on it's own, drilling itself into her neck, the filaments' progress easily visible as it snaked down her spine. Her screams stopped for a few moments as it penetrated around the base of her skull, the tentacles of it slipping into the minute space where the spine and her skull met. She was limp as it continued it's journey wrapping itself around her spine and down her shoulders and arms, individual splines slipping around the housings of her claws and deeply into the muscle tissue. When her heart rate returned, they flipped her over again, her body still limp as they started up the machine again, this time it caught her port hidden in her neck when it began to drill into her soft flesh. A muted 'click' echoed through the chamber a second time as the machine wound up, ready to start reprogramming her as it had already done to Logan.

"Arent' we supposed to weld it to her?" one of the white coats asked.

"I'm not going through all that. You can't weld to adamantium anyhow." the second doctor answered.

When they were done with her, they unstrapped Logan who went to her, freeing her as well. She stood up slowly, looking dazed as he locked eyes with her. Wordlessly, she followed him. He gave her clothing and the two of them walked out of the programming room, several doors down to a large conference room where the professor and Hines were seated, a large teleconference screen on the wall with members of the executive board of SHIELD on screen as the feral couple quietly entered and sat down next to each other.

"As you can see, Mr. Secretary, they are both completely in my control. They aren't fighting it at all." the professor said, gesturing to the two recently seated ferals.

"Weapon X and Weapon K are ready to be used however you see fit – if you can pay my price."

…...

Psylocke and Gambit began their hasty retreat. They couldn't fight biometrics with psychic power. They couldn't fight SHIELD if they were in on it either. She concentrated hard, trying to reach Warren and warn him about SHIELD's involvement. She'd barely reached him when the alarm went off.


	4. Fighting for 'normal'

Psylocke had managed to disappear into the shadows – or so she thought. She'd almost made it to the elevator when Logan got a hold of her, yanking her from the shadows backwards. She cried out as he pulled her by her hair and one arm, managing to catch him with her psychic blade. He stumbled and finally fell, eyes open in a daze, giving her a chance to get away from him. Gambit hadn't been so lucky. He didn't see what had happened to K. She appeared as he was fighting back the grunts that swarmed him, and turned his back to her. A split second before she hit him, he realized his mistake. He was now bleeding on the floor – she'd punctured a lung, shocking him enough that he simply didn't react before he was overpowered by the ninjas around him. K looked toward Logan, and on seeing him on the floor looked beyond him to Psylocke who had the elevator doors closing as their eyes met. She calmly walked to Logan, checked his pulse and headed back to the board room to report.

"She's slipped away then." the professor said disapprovingly. "Take your mate back to your quarters and wait for my directions." he said dismissing her. By the time she got back to where he lay, the rest of the hall had cleared. He was far too heavy for her to carry so she simply grabbed his foot and dragged him until they got near the door. She ordered a passing soldier to assist her, dropping him on the bed as she waited for him to recover from the psychic assault. She sat nearby, simply waiting. She wanted to try to help him, but she couldn't. Any desires she had were things she couldn't act on. Not without an order.

…...

Deadpool met the panicked Psylocke on the roof of the building.

"Hey, you're short a Cajun and a pair of ferals. What happened?" he asked as she looked around nervously, finally able to contact Angel.

"I put him down. He won't be able to wake up until I rouse him. It was the only way I could circumvent the programming. I just shut him down."She babbled.

"Gambit or Wolverine?" Deadpool asked, honestly confused.

"Wolverine. Gambit is in their lab now. K stabbed him." she said, worry on her face.

"_Warren, did you tell Charles? Do they know it's SHIELD?"_ She asked him mentally as he made his appearance nearby. He nodded once.

"Charles expected as much. They'd been acting too shady where K was concerned. He thinks that may not even be her name." Warren told her. Deadpool looked at the two of them for a moment before answering himself in his own conversations in his head. The only problem there was that he was the only one talking to himself. They hunkered down, praying that they didn't try to move any of their team mates until at least one of the teams could show up. The first on the scene was Excalibur followed by Magneto and a handful of Acolytes. Betsy quickly informed them of everything.

"What is the plan then, Psylocke? I can end both of them right now from here without any further bloodshed." Magneto told her. He was calm, businesslike about it.

"No, we want them both back. They have children – children that need their parents." Psylocke told him.

"This is what you get when you trust humans. A family torn apart and the parents used as tools. Disgusting." he scoffed. Soon the blackbird was there, the entire team, short of only Charles and Kitty. Scott ran down the scenario quickly.

"Here's what we've got, people." Scott began "Both of them have been fitted with a biometric control system that apparently needs to be plugged in to 'refresh' every now and again. That's what Forge said from examining the one Kitty pulled from K the first time. We don't know exactly how they work, or how well they work. Now, the building - the system is incredibly complex and reaching. So, here's what we do." he launched into a very exacting plan to basically storm the place, take down anyone in their path, and "if the opportunity to kill Professor Thorton shows itself – take it. This guy is just too damned slippery, and far too obsessed with feral manipulations. We need to take him out if we can, and take out his work too. Stark is hacking into SHIELD as we speak, eradicating the information held there, looking into where the hard copies are – if there are any left. The Avengers working on this are doing it under SHIELD's radar. Fury is on our side. He'd been trying to fix his personnel problem from within – clearly it didn't work. Go get em, and bring our guys back in one piece – breathing preferably."

"I thought X-Men didn't kill. How does Charles feel about this?" Magneto said, truly shocked at Scott's direction.

"We're making an exception this time." Scott said evenly. Magneto nodded and peeled back the roof of the building, removing the weaponry – swords, stars, knives, darts, guns – you name it, he removed the metallic weaponry from every single ninja or grunt below them, massing them into a large ball of highly magnetized metal which he then lobbed into the ocean nearby. As the attack began, he then concentrated hard, raising up the metal lined walls of the subterranean complex, the men within it thinking there was an earthquake at hand as the very rooms they occupied shook and rose. The battle was fierce, and although chaos was raining down on the complex, K remained in the room while hell broke loose outside of it. She was waiting for Logan to awaken fully, her orders were to await further instruction. Professor Thorton hadn't thought that the team would show so quickly, or so precisely on top of them. Sadly for him, the room the pair of ferals was in was fairly close to the start of the fire fight – although Professor Thorton had been careful to keep them close at hand, he didn't expect for Magneto to tear the roof off the building and raise the metallic laden lower levels as he had done. The point at which Magneto made an entrance to the now raised lower level was nearly on top of the two adamantium heavy ferals. When Jean and Psylocke opened the door, she snarled, ready to defend herself and Logan. As she lunged, Magneto again intervened, freezing her in place then lifting Logan in a similar manner, levitating the pair of them out of the building and to the waiting blackbird while the rest of the team searched for Gambit. In the jet, Magneto helped Hank to manipulate K into restraints, forcing her claws back into their housings as she struggled against his powers. He then bound her tightly before Hank tied her to a gurney on board, still struggling against all of it, not recognizing her friends when she saw them.

"Do not release her anytime soon, McCoy. She will kill the lot of you if you give her half a chance." Magneto warned before overseeing Logan's restraints, binding him in a similar manner, perhaps a bit too tightly. When the team returned with Gambit, Magneto returned to the site, against Cyclops' advice, he simply raised the entire sub floor, then crushed it into an impossibly small mass, anything not metal having been crushed beyond identification as the rebar and plating and wires of the complex compressed in on itself, destroying all the data and computers and any unfortunate human that simply didn't get out quickly enough. Cyclops for once, looked the other way, unwilling to care too much for a group of people that were so willing to treat others in such a deplorable manner.

Gambit was trying to warn them on the flight back, his voice weak as Psylocke grew tired of K's fighting and silenced her as she had Logan – using her psychic blade to render her useless.

"Can't just remove the device." Gambit whispered to Hank. "Gotta turn it off first – and get rid of what dey done to dem already. You jes take it out, they gon' stay like that." Hank's face fell.

"Of course they would. We just destroyed the machine that worked the device." Hank said, irritated.

…...

When they landed, the two were put into the lone cell that they knew would hold Wolverine. They couldn't chance separating them for fear that one would break loose. Once they were safely inside and their restraints removed, Psylocke released the two of them, no one expecting what would happen next. Both had been fighting when they were put down, so both of them woke up swinging. Finding no other target, they began to fight each other until Jean used her telekinesis to hold them apart, both of them dripping blood now.

"Holy shit. What the hell are we supposed to do with this?" Scott blurted out. "We can't get to them right now when they're like this. Forge won't be able to access the device to see if his machine will work, and if we leave the two of them like this, they'll kill each other." Jean concentrated hard, the pair of them relaxing slightly. She let their feet touch the ground before concentrating on K, who after a second or two simply collapsed. Logan's mind panicked even as he still looked ready to tear her to pieces. Jean then focused on him with more effort until he too simply collapsed.

"Get the restraints back on. He didn't want to hit her at all, this is all part of the programming." Jean said as she turned to walk away. Charles would be down soon, and hopefully he could find a way to fool the ferals into following commands somehow. Right now, everyone that had been involved in the extraction was painted as an enemy, which ended up being most of the team.

Logan was the first to wake up. He looked around the room he was in – he couldn't smell anything but the woman on the floor across the room. His mind was racing, two lines of thought battling for supremacy. Part of him was screaming for K to get up, please don't be hurt. The other was telling him to kill her. When he saw Thorton standing outside of the cell, he stood and began to head towards her.

"Stop, weapon x. She has done nothing wrong. Have a seat, we need to make a few adjustments to your device." Charles said as he projected the image of the 'other' professor into Logan's mind. Wordlessly, he obeyed though his mind was racing, his will trying to find a way to break free of the hold over him. Forge walked in cautiously, shocked when Logan simply leaned his chin onto his chest to give him access to the port. Jean and Magneto both were standing by, ready to immobilize him should he move in the slightest. Nervously, Forge attached his hand held reader to the port hidden in Logan's neck. He flinched when the soft click echoed the room. Forge stood there a moment, scanning everything in it, using his abilities to pick apart the makings of it, adjusting things here and there before asking for a computer from Scott. He routed a new cord in, feeling sick to his stomach that his friend was this badly violated, hacking into the device and reversing all of the programming that had shown up on the reader he made. When he'd finished, Logan's eyes were glassy. He carefully shut down the device and removed his leads, backing away from his friend. Jean lowered him to the ground, all of them hoping that this would be all it would take to get him back. Scott made the decision to do the same to K before she could wake up fully. The two laid there for hours, seemingly asleep. The only movement in the cell being their breathing. Jean and Charles monitored their thoughts, urging them to awaken. When Logan woke up, Jean could find no trace of the second thought stream in his mind.

"Are you alright?" Jean asked him cautiously. He looked around the room, his eyes landing on K.

"Is she alright?" Logan asked, his mouth dry. Jean nodded, again asking him about his own well being. "I hurt her, didn't I?" he said quietly, staring blankly at her sleeping form. She couldn't really answer him. His memories she could access during his time there were fuzzy at best.

"Do you think you hurt her?" Jean asked. He just locked eyes with her a moment, the lack of answer giving her a chill.

"We're going to keep you in observation a few days, Logan. We need to be sure that there is no latent programming before we allow you to roam the mansion again. The same will go for K." Charles said, Logan nodding grimly as he stared at his bare feet.

"How are the little ones?" he asked quietly as Jean turned to leave.

"They're fine. Kitty is with them." she answered. Before he could say another word, she answered before his question. "You can't see them yet. I won't let either of you near them until I'm completely convinced you won't hurt them." she had a firm, protective tone to her voice as she denied him his children. He understood, of course. It didn't stop it from being a blow though. HE swallowed hard and leaned against the wall. Nothing else for him to do now but wait and think of how badly he'd screwed up this time.

K woke up a few hours later. Jean's suggestion to sleep hit her much harder than it had Logan. When she did wake up, she felt groggy and achy. She turned to find Logan staring at her from the other side of the cell. Betsy was nearby observing when he got to his feet and offered her his hand. She watched him warily before taking it, Logan pulling her to her feet. She studied him a moment and when he reached out to touch her she slapped him with all she had.

"I'm sure I deserve that." he said, rubbing his jaw. "You wouldn't mind telling me what I did, would ya?" he asked. She narrowed her eyes at him a moment, reliving the moment in his cell where she was sure he was going to screw her.

"You scared the shit out of me, you asshole. Make me think you were going to force yourself on me – for a fucking kiss? ASSHOLE." she shouted before hauling off to slap him again. As she hit him, he smiled to himself.

"So I didn't hurt you then?" he asked. "I fought it." she glared at him.

"Yes, you fought it, but you were way to fucking convincing for me. The guard outside the door just laughed and walked away while I fought back. You're lucky I didn't stab you!" He relaxed a little as he pulled her closer. K struggling in his arms.

"I was supposed to beat and rape you." he said as she put her hands on his chest. "they ordered me to break you, but I fought it. I just couldn't remember what I actually did though."

"You scared the hell out of me is what you did. Stripped me naked, pinned me down then kissed me and told me to scream – you have any idea what the fuck that sounded like to me?" he finally released her and she stalked away from him, keeping distance as her heart pounded like a scared rabbit. He looked entirely apologetic as he took a step toward her.

"NO. Keep away from me." K said, her eyes wild, hands in fists ready to fight if he wouldn't listen.

"Sweetheart -"

"NO."

Jean walked in, assessing the situation. K turned to her, desperate.

"Get me out of here, Jean. Please. I can't be in here with him." K said, her voice shaking, her eyes never leaving him.

"K, I can't. This is the only cell that will hold you. Or him. You're stuck with him for a few days anyhow." Jean replied. K looked ready to cry. "You've been traumatized. Give it a chance. Maybe you two can work through it." K looked at her in disbelief.

"My babies – let me see them." K said, her hands were shaking now. Jean shook her head sadly.

"I'm sorry, K, I am. You can't see them until we know there's no way you'll hurt them." Jean told her. Tears welled up in her eyes for a split second before rage replaced her heartbreak. Jean's eyes widened as she caught the tone of K's thoughts. Logan leapt forward, grabbing her and pulling her away from Jean as K snapped, nearly breaking through the barrier in place – the energy barricade before the solid barrier bending dangerously as she charged Jean. When it registered that Logan was trying to restrain her, she turned on him. She began to beat on him, and he, for the most part simply took it. When he couldn't see an end to her rage, however, he took matters into his own hands and held her down, K fighting him like a wild cat. Jean watched the beating he took, scared for Logan until he had her down.

"Wrong wording, Jeannie. You know what they say about getting between a mama bear and her cubs? Well – that's why right here. Go on now. We gotta have a talk alone." Logan said, taking control of the situation. The two psychics slipped away from the room, leaving them to talk alone.

"Woman. Listen to me." Logan said as she fought against his hold. "Calm the hell down and listen." She was shaking she was so mad. "You're going to hurt yourself if you keep it up. Now listen to me. I know you're mad at me. I'm sorry I scared you, but you don't have to act like this. I would rather die than hurt you." She blinked rapidly as she started to calm down. "Good, you are listening. Just breathe, darlin'. I need to be sure you're with me for this next part." She started to take deep breaths, trying to calm herself, knowing he wouldn't simply let her loose until he was convinced she wouldn't fight him again. After a few minutes, she incrementally relaxed, finally exhaling a deep breath and nodding her head.

"I won't let you just quit on me. I love you too much for that. Like it or not, we belong to each other. We took _vows._ We have to do this together." he said. "The bond is intact. If that breaks, I'll try to accept you don't want me anymore, but until then, you're stuck with me." She finally looked him in the eyes, having avoided them until now.

"I wasn't going to leave you. I'm just mad at you. If anything, the bond is getting more prominent." she said quietly. "I love you too. More, probably." she said, her eyebrow cocked. He smiled at her.

"You going to punch me if I kiss you now?" he asked.

"Depends on how well you kiss me." she replied. When Jean checked in on them a while later, they were cozied up together, sitting on the floor, leaning against the corner of the cell, his arms and legs around her as she leaned into his chest, her hand on his knee.

"Jeannie, you think we can get a few blankets in here? K's a little cold." he asked, K's shaking now clearly visible to Jean where she stood, even as she soaked up Logan's body heat. Jean nodded, rushing off to bring them what they needed. She didn't want to tell them that Charles had determined that they would need to remain in the cell for five days, instead of two, before the control system was removed from them – then another two or three days back in the cell while they observed the couple for trouble.

For now, she let them heal as they cared for each other.


	5. Instincts

Magneto was on hand two days after their arrival to assist in removal of the controls that had been implanted into the two ferals. Kitty would again attempt to phase them out, but Eric would be waiting to hold them still or finish the job should there be any problems. They insisted on Logan first. K didn't watch from the cell – she couldn't. She had to sit there and wait for them to do their work before they came for her. Fifteen minutes after his procedure started, Jean came for K.

"Scott is planning on bringing Abbey down to see you guys in a little while. The twins are asleep, but when they wake up, we'll sneak them in too. They miss you." she told her, hoping to placate her a little. Logan was now undergoing several scans directed by Celia. He was dizzy, but otherwise seemed himself until he turned his head toward his wife. He didn't mean to watch, but once he saw them start, he couldn't tear his eyes away. He was shocked at the amount of tiny cables and wires that they pulled from her … the ones that clearly had been into her brain caused him the most concern as they writhed against themselves as Kitty pulled them out. As he watched her remove the last of them, he spoke up.

"Check for nanobots, Hank." Logan said suddenly, everyone's attention to him. "If those things are moving and squirmin' on their own – even when they're off, you better check for other garbage that might be floatin' around." He considered Logans' words for a moment before nodding his head, pulling out more equipment from storage to run on the both of them. This was going to be a long day of tests – if they could even do all of them today.

While they waited on the results, Eric came and sat near K, watching her closely. She didn't pay him any attention at first, but finally realized his focus was on her when he spoke.

"We've found a rather large file on you in that complex. Charles will be speaking with you about it soon." Eric told her. Logan watched him warily as K listened to him. "I'd like very much if you'd allow me to sit in for this discussion." K knew little of Magneto's crusade against humanity. She only knew that he had a working relationship with those that the X-Men considered combatants. She turned to Logan for guidance, sensing his uneasiness. She was more curious than she was concerned though as she nodded. Eric gave her a sad smile before thanking her and leaving them alone. Logan kissed the side of her head as he left.

"Curiosity killed the cat, darlin'." he said quietly. She smirked as she wrapped her arms around his waist, halfway on his lap now.

"What can I say? Meow." she replied. "I just don't know what he'd have to add, and I think Charles would filter it. There has to be more to this than we've been told." A few moments later, Hank came and sat down heavily in the chair he pulled up in front of them.

"You both have several tracking devices, and a few … items I'm not sure of what they are. So, who's first?" Hank said unceremoniously, clapping his hands together.

Less than an hour later, both were cleared of all devices and nanobots that Magneto helped to remove, though removing them proved to be the most disturbing and painful of all the procedures the pair went through that day. They were all the more upset then, while cleaning up the blood from their battered bodies when they were informed they had to stay another couple days until they were sure there would be no after effects.

"Days? You're kidding, right? We're already healed!" Logan spit out, his patience now officially worn.

"I'm sorry Logan, but we need to be sure. What if there's some latent programming we missed? What if the little ones are hurt because of it?" Jean argued. "I'll bring them down in a little while. I'd like your first interactions to be where we can stop you if either of you is triggered to hurt them." she looked apologetic as she left the pair of them fuming in the cell. It was the first time in Logan's memory when he actually wanted to hurt her. Aside from feeling as if their kids were being held over their heads like a prize, the truth was they had no privacy here. Even with their best efforts to keep distance, they'd wake up curled up together, automatically caressing and kissing – only to remember where they were and stop, knowing that there was always someone watching as long as they were locked up. To make matters worse, the only way either could keep it together was to nuzzle the other, kicking off more kisses and touches. The stop and go, was wearing on them, Logan more so. He was starting to get short with K too. He was the one initiating most of their contact, and almost always the one to stop it too, so when he barked at her for not stopping him from kissing her 'like that', she got pissed off. He started it and it was somehow her fault? She was now laser focused on making him lose control just to show him she could.

"Wait. So you kiss _me_ and somehow it's _my fault?_" she glared at him as he shook his head. He knew better, but he needed to burn some energy … and it just wasn't enough the little exercise he could do here. He needed to run, fight or fuck and she knew it. Problem was, it was still going to be a couple days before he'd be allowed out to run, and he'd refused to fight her since every time they sparred in the cell one would end up pinning the other and things would begin to unravel. There was one option that he was avoiding like the plague on privacy issues of all things. They got to see the little ones, though it wasn't quite enough and Abbey especially didn't understand why she couldn't stay with them. She was getting angry with Scott and pulling on Jean's hair. She didn't have much she could do to argue but she still managed to get her point across.

The next few days were miserable. Magneto refused to go anywhere near the cells – concerned that it may be a trick to capture him, so their talk was put on hold until the couple was cleared. Their final blood tests were being run when K had had enough.

He froze when he saw the smirk on her face from across the room. What the hell did she have in mind now? She looked at the clock on the wall, taking note that no one would be around for the rest of the night. He had finally quit pacing and had started to work out again. _Well,_ she thought to herself _lets see how well Mr. Cranky can hold out._ She leaned back against the wall, eyes locked on him as he tried to focus on the floor in front of him as he ran through a set of push ups for the four hundredth time that day. She decided to 'turn in early' and slipped off her shirt and bra, padding over silently to steal his flannel that he'd laid over the chair. She shimmied silently out of her jeans and slid into his shirt, leaving it unbuttoned as she glided over to the bed simply to fall asleep while he tried to burn off some tension. They'd had an unspoken rule they'd held to tightly since being locked up – she had to be clothed for bed. It just led to frustration, so she'd kept on her clothes, showering and changing into new that Kitty had brought every morning while Logan did the same at night. She'd mostly kept to it. She despised sleeping in pants, so she'd break that part of the rule regularly – causing her to find herself waking up on more than one occasion with his hand in her panties or up her shirt, caressing a breast while he nipped at her neck. If not for the rotten surveillance, he wouldn't have stopped once in his actions. She never seemed to complain too much about it – the idea of one of their friends catching them was not an exciting one. When he turned toward her after he'd showered and changed, he wasn't sure if he was more irritated or turned on. She was draped across the bed, somehow half asleep. The blanket covered her from the waist down, but the open shirt showed more than enough skin to peak his interest. He growled as he approached her, waking her the rest of the way. She smiled as she stretched, scooting over to make room for him, simply pulling up the blanket a hair as she resettled herself on the bed, ignoring the waves of emotion rolling off of him. He laid down after a few minutes, shirtless as usual and trying to not touch her. She cracked an eye open to find his back to her. Oh, he was trying so hard. Too bad she would be too. It took a long time, but finally, he seemed to relax, rolling onto his back in his sleep. The movement woke her again. Gingerly, she slid closer, laying her head on his chest. His arm automatically wrapping around her as he rearranged himself sleepily, pulling her close, moaning a little in his sleep as her bare breasts pressed against him and she kissed his chest. He woke up a few moments later when she slid up and kissed him.

"K, no. Not here." he said against her mouth as his hands slid under the open fabric of the shirt she wore.

"Alright." she said breathlessly as he continued to kiss her. It was working already. He was going to crack, even if he didn't know it yet. When her hand slid into the waist of his jeans, he grabbed her wrist.

"I'm serious. Not here. Come on. You know better." he growled. She sat up a little, looking at him passively.

"Alright." she said again, this time slipping back to lay next to him, his arm as a pillow as she smiled sweetly at him. He turned on his side, wanting to touch her and totally unable to take his eyes off her nearly naked body that smelled so goddamned good right now. Her eyes never left his as she slid one hand down her own body, caressing her breast, down her tight stomach, and into her panties, touching herself as he found himself unable to move, sure he was hallucinating as his pulse picked up. He wanted to watch what she was doing, but he was unable to tear himself from her face as she pleasured herself. It was too much. Her lips parted and his mouth watered. He was leaning toward her even as he tried to stop himself, the scent of her arousal thick in the air, driving him closer to the edge of his control. His hand slid onto her hip as she began to breathe a little quicker, her eyes never leaving his. That pushed him over the edge. Before he knew what had happened, he took control of her. They were in the throes, surveillance be damned. Someone wanted to watch that goddamned bad, they were going to get a show.

Upstairs, Jean was on duty. It was late, but not into the wee hours of the morning yet when she saw the movement on the camera trained to the cell the two ferals were in. Their routine at bedtime was always sweet from what she'd seen. He'd slip into bed and kiss her tenderly before they nestled into each other. So tonight, she saw the whole thing, her mouth hanging open as K seduced him. She was frozen, unable to turn away from the sight of the two of them. She finally was able to pull herself away from the screen long enough to turn off the camera. She was suddenly very overheated, and although she was supposed to be monitoring the security system and watching the couple for any signs of danger, she couldn't sit there any longer. She set security for high alert and made her way to wake up Scott. She couldn't believe it. She'd lost her bet with him. Jean was sure Logan would be the aggressor – the one to coerce K into doing the deed. What's more, she couldn't get the image of the two of them out of her head. She had no idea K could be so … dirty. She'd have to try it on Scott – see if he'd have a similar reaction. She was nervous for the first time in years as she slipped into their bed in only his blue button down shirt.

…...

When Hank made his way to check on the condition of his two reluctant patients, he was stunned, nearly dropping his clip board when he found them, barely covered, hopelessly tangled together and into a fairly advanced state of heavy petting. He blushed purple as he backed away. Jean came into the lab a few hours later.

"Haven't you let them out yet? Charles needed to talk to them before classes start tomorrow." She said as she sat down next to him.

"Indeed I have. A bit too much, to be honest. In fact, I haven't even told them they can go – they were a bit preoccupied when I came in this morning." Hank replied, shaking his head. Her eyebrows nearly invaded her hairline.

"Still? They've been going at it since around midnight." she informed him, closing her eyes as she decided it better to reach out to them, blushing herself when she opened them back up. "Oh my God. We're just going to have to break them up."

"Be my guest. There is no way that you could talk me into that job." He replied over his glasses. She opened the door to where the holding cells were. The pair was quiet, but clearly they were involved.

"K – Logan?" she smiled when her voice didn't slow them down. She covered her eyes when she saw a glimpse of K's leg over his hip, his hand on her thigh. "I know you're busy, but um … the kids are looking for you." That got K's attention. It had been two days since she'd brought them down to see their parents. She began to squirm under him, earning a growl as he nipped at her, trying to hold her still.

"Just …. um...unlock the door. I'll be up … ow! Hey … as soon as we ….." K said, cut off as Logan kissed her. Jean hit the button to unlock the door, leaving it open as she turned and walked away, Logan clearly taking the opportunity to make her writhe one last time before going back to reality. It is after all, what she'd pushed for, right?

…...

The reunion with the kids at the boathouse was one of the sweetest, most cheerful things that Jean had seen in a while. The kids were overjoyed to be with their parents, Abbey crying after having her father disappear, then not seeing her mother too for what seemed like to her little time line a really really long time. Jean knew she was truly scared she'd lost them both. The twins insisted on being held, only stopping reaching for one or the other when Logan put his arm around K, pulling her close on the couch while he held James and she held Abbey and Rose. Before too long, the little ones fell asleep from all the excitement. Their grateful parents laid them down in their bedroom, Abbey in their bed the twins in the crib nearby. K reasoned that they'd all sleep better being close to them. Their bliss was interrupted with a quiet knock on the front door as Charles and Eric came to have their discussion with the couple on their findings.


	6. Don't Poke the Bear

Logan's hand was squeezing hers. She hadn't really heard much of what Charles and Magneto had to say after telling her that she'd been in their hands much longer than she'd thought. Her memories were smashed together, pieces were missing. Apparently, they'd used her for testing other possible candidates after she'd shown her claws. There was video they'd recovered of almost all of their experimentations, including the one they'd recorded at her adamantium procedure – including Logan's reactions. Extensive notes were taken on her gene structure, even corroborated with research that Dr. Essex had done on Logan years ago, mapping the two together for possible outcomes. On top of that, she'd been actively marketed as a commodity by the professor. He had apparently learned from his mistakes with Logan. He had no intention to use her as a weapon. The torture tests they'd done on her was purely to test her limits. To know what she brought to the table. Had she died as a side effect of one of the tests, they'd have known she was an inferior product. No, his intention outside of using her as a demonstration of his 'product potential' was purely to bait Logan. He couldn't have been more tickled when they realized the two had a bond. She was the in. She was the means to manipulate him – force him to submit to what they'd wanted from him in the first place. Her ears shut off after Eric had told her they were actively marketing their children. Not the ones they had already – somehow Abbey and the twins had come into the world under their radar. No, they were advertising for the highest bidder to place an order for their own little weapon that they could raise as they saw fit. She was sick to her stomach.

"The word is out, I'm afraid." Eric said as K put her head in her hands, Logan rubbing her back. "It will just be a matter of time before any one of the interested parties decides to make a move on you. If they see those little ones, they will be taken from you." the house was silent. Charles looked mournful and livid all at once. K looked up at him finally, her hands fisted under her chin.

"So what do we do, Charles?" K asked, tears in her eyes. "Tell me what to do, because what I have in mind, you will not approve of." His mouth tightened.

"What do you have in mind, child?" Eric asked, his eyes sparkling.

"Give me your list." K replied, locking eyes with him. He smiled in return.

"Charles won't approve, but I do. Use your demonstrative training against them." He turned to Logan. "And what about you? What do you propose?" Logan's mouth was drawn as he saw the focus in K's eyes.

"She's not going to go alone." he replied. "I won't let her go near them without back up. Can't be losin' my wife after all we've gone through already." Eric nodded.

"I was hoping you'd say that." he said as he watched K's reaction. "I've already arranged for you to have assistance from us if you would like it. We'd like to keep tabs on your progress either way. The last thing we need is for the pair of you to go missing into one of their labs." K looked to Charles. Before she could say a word, Charles lifted his hand, sighing.

"For the first time in years, I'm afraid I have to agree. The children are in danger as long as they are looking for you. Not just yours either. Nothing would stop them from picking up some of the students as well. Jean, Kitty and I will stay together with the little ones while you two secure their future. I would suggest you try to prepare Abbey, however. I will help to explain it to her, but you will need to make sure she understands before you leave again." K nodded her head.

"How long do you think we have?" K asked, looking to Eric.

"A week, perhaps. A week before one of them makes a move." he replied. Charles watched her a moment, his eyes widening.

"What happened to the tracking devices?" K asked, looking to Charles.

"We disabled them and gave them to Forge." he answered.

"Turn 'em on." K replied. "Turn 'em on and give them to me. Otherwise, they'll go to the place they were last working – which is here. Let me have them. I'll set them up somewhere that I've got an advantage."

"What are you thinkin' darlin?" Logan said, a smirk on his face. Somehow he knew she had something wicked in mind.

…...

K was up a tree, watching the big black bear she'd just wrestled with walk away. Logan was next to her, holding on to her as they watched him snort and huff.

"Where's he headed?" Logan said quietly. He had laughed when she first told him her plan. It was simple, and frankly, believable.

"Probably the swamp over that way. Really good area for him to bed down. The big ones have always liked it there." K replied as she wiped the blood off her face. She got the bear to eat the tracker without really hurting it, even as he tried his best to tear into her. The trick of it was that he had to swallow it whole – no crunching or it wouldn't work. Eric had already told them that what little remained of the Weapon X department was on their way once the device had turned on again. The idea was that the bear would draw them away, crap out the tracker somewhere hard to get to and they could get the jump on them. Until then, they stayed out of sight, in the trees mostly as she showed him around her 'territory'. He was starting to like watching her move, especially when she ditched the boots to go barefoot. Her uniform had taken a beating from the bear. He could see the wheels in her head turning, considering just taking the damn thing off. He smirked as she pulled at it then slipped his hand under the fabric from behind her, sliding his hand across her stomach under the cloth, pulling her tightly to him and kissing her neck. She wanted nothing more than to go along with it, leaning into him as he leaned on the tree trunk, the whole thing swaying gently in the breeze.

"Later, hot stuff. Don't need them catching us with our pants down." she said as he nipped at her ear, nodding his head.

"I know, just can't keep my hands offa ya." he replied with a grin as he sighed, letting her lean away from him. She needed to get him somewhere they could watch for soldiers. It wouldn't be long now.

…...

They watched them circle the swamp, their assault rifles at the ready, as they closed their circle. Their scanner picked up their signal as the men on it relayed their positions. '…_ tracking device hasn't moved for over two hours. We're closing in on her now. Fire at will when you see her. You can't trust this one."_ Logan flipped the switch on the little hand held device that Forge had sent with them that killed all wireless communications for over a mile around them. They couldn't have them radioing for back up. She squeezed his thigh, nodding to her left where an arc of soldiers began to close in on the tracking device that had suddenly gone dead. The troops were on high alert. Not one of them was looking in the trees. It simply wasn't the way that Logan worked, and they'd never tracked her like this before. After they passed under them, the pair silently slipped down the tree, stalking forward to cut them down as they went, slipping behind them as they split up, planning to meet on the opposite end of their circle. K passed the bear she'd wrestled with earlier as he snuck out of the swamp – his bedroom must have gotten some unexpected visitors. The two of them worked in unison, dropping one after another until they met the last two, spotting each other a they came up to them.

"Why isn't anyone answering our radio calls? What happened?" one of them whispered to the other as they moved forward wide eyed.

"Don't worry about it. The boss said that happens up here sometimes. Something to do with some old military experiment they did up here. Screws up all kinds of signals. Just shoot the hell out of her when we get to her." the second replied. Clearly he was either more experienced, or just cocky. She couldn't wait to get a hold of him.

"Aren't we supposed to give her a chance to surrender?" the younger one asked. His partner scoffed.

"Why bother? Just save yourself the trouble and shoot her. They said she'll heal up anyhow." She lunged forward silently, yanking his rifle from him and slashing his throat as his partner turned to see him as he fell, his mouth open as he fumbled to train his gun on her. Before he could get it anywhere near her, Logan took him down, slashing the rifle into pieces as he pinned him to the ground. K made sure his partner was facing him as he bled out, her foot on his head before he looked up to see Wolverine glaring at him.

"What's the contingency?" Logan growled out, the young soldier petrified under him, shaking. He and K locked eyes and she nodded once, Logan putting his fist under the man's chin, popping one of the outer claws. "Contingency. Now." he growled out before popping the second outer claw.

"Second wave! There's a second wave – they have dogs with them. They'll sweep in one hour after we lost our signal. Please, don't kill me!" the man nearly screamed out, too scared to move as Logan scented out if he was lying.

"Anything after that?"

"I …. I don't know. I'm new to them. Please. Please don't' kill me." the man was begging now.

"But if I let you go, you're bound to tell your superiors about us. I can't have you hunting my wife anymore." Logan growled out low.

"Please – I won't bother another mutant for the rest of my life. Please. I never liked this hunting mutants anyhow, please!" the man was shaking uncontrollably in fear. Logan considered it a moment.

"You can go on one condition. If I ever scent you anywhere near any kind of military outfit or research lab or anything like that, I will gut you and let you bleed – you hear me boy?" he growled out low, the young man readily agreeing, afraid to shake his head lest he cut his own throat. As he retracted his claws, he punched him squarely, smashing his nose and fracturing his cheekbones before he stood, leaving the unconscious man where he laid. The two took back to the trees, moving around to where the platoon had come in the first time, waiting to see if the next wave would do the same. First came the dogs, but Logan didn't worry about them. The handlers and the much larger second wave came next, easily double what it was the first time, flooding the forest as they fanned out. Time for the sneaky again. They repeated their performance, working in tandem this time until one of the dogs caught up with them, he started out growling until Logan leveled with it and growled back, silencing the beast and causing him to abandon his quest entirely, turning tail and leaving. Seems the animal was smarter than his handlers. When they got down to the last of this wave, they questioned him as they had the first.

"No one knows what we're looking for – this is the first I've seen you, we're just hunting the device. That's what we were told to find." this one was not repentant. K watched him a moment and in a bit of inspiration, or madness, she knelt next to her husband before tearing open the soldier's shirt. He had no tattoos, and was fairly hairy chested. She smirked then continued stripping him down to both men's confusion. When he was entirely nude, she popped one claw, and pulled out the second tracking device, activating it before cutting a small incision and shoving the device up under the man's ribs near his spine. She then punched him in the throat and leaned in close as he gasped.

"Run. They're coming for you." she whispered as Logan chuckled to himself. She really could be devious. The man suddenly realized what she'd done and panicked, unable to reach the tracker she'd lodged in his body. "Good luck explaining who you are." she said as she and Logan backed away, disappearing into the woods. The man was a frantic mess. He tried to call out for help, but the punch she'd landed was solid and he found himself without a voice. He ran like a mad man, crashing through the brush. As the couple found a perch nearby, gunfire erupted as his own co-workers cut him down in a hail of bullets. The next two weeks were like that as the two gradually worked their way up the ladder, finding the offices of Professor Thorton and his associates. K had taken an image inducer from the mansion before she left, and currently looked like a little curly haired redhead. She took a job in the office and on her third day there, let in a Mr. Howlett in to see him about adding to his funding. When they left the offices, Logan had finally after years of irritation and torment ended the bald headed little man, waiting until his heart had stopped before liberating his head from his body and taking apart the office, burning all the papers and files on everything from the weapon x project, keeping only his own information and K's to go over and burn together later. The three of them now gone – the professor, Hines and Dr. Cornelius – the pair headed back to Westchester to see who else was on the list. When they returned, they were pleasantly surprised to find that Magneto had gone after a group in China while X-Factor handled the Washington connection. Deadpool wanted in too, and took care of Russia. The Avengers stepped out of SHIELD jurisdiction and took out the knowledgeable parties in Madripoor and North Korea, Cap at the helm while Iron Man weeded out where SHIELD was associated and began altering files and the on paper success of the project, suddenly showing it on paper as totally unfeasible and dangerous to the general public if implemented. There was little left now but to sit back and wait. But even that was put on the back burner when they arrived back to find Kitty in labor in their living room.


	7. Welcome Back

"Kitty, why aren't you with Hank?" Logan asked, alarmed as she tried desperately to calm herself down. She was in the middle of a contraction and her knees were buckling. When it passed she answered him as he helped her to sit down, rubbing her back.

"He's on a mission. Celia's supposed to be on her way, but I don't know when she's supposed to be here." Kitty replied. There were tear tracks down her face and she was shaking. K asked her when her water broke – the smell of the fluid was stale in the air. "A couple hours ago. Really, Celia is supposed to be here soon." K looked at Logan with a deadly serious expression. The kids were asleep in their beds.

"We have to get her up there." K told him as he tried to comfort Kitty.

"No – I can't. I can't walk that far." Kitty was crying. "I've tried. No one's around anyhow." She was worn already. Not a good sign.

"Alright then. Come on. You're going to get comfortable and rest until Celia shows. Alright?" K said to her, taking charge of the situation as best she could. Kitty nodded and Logan helped her to their bedroom to lay down. Once she was in bed, K started to help Kitty out of her pants. "Celia will need to check you when she gets here before they get you up to the house. You'll be a little more comfortable anyhow." K said, pulling up a blanket over her as she tried to get comfortable, turning on her side as Logan rubbed her back, pressing hard as she asked for it. There was no doubt the girl was in full labor now. K called up to the house and got Jean.

"Listen," K said quietly as she watched Kitty from the living room, "Kitty's in labor. Like full on she is having this baby right now labor. We can't move her, she's too far in it. Send down everything Celia might need and tell her to come here when she gets in, please. I can try to keep her calm until she gets here."

"Celia's not here yet? She was supposed to be here an hour ago! I'll see if I can find her. In the meantime, I'll send down Kurt with the supplies. I'll be there too as soon as I find Celia. Everyone else is out." Jean replied.

"Well, do me a favor and wake up Jubilee and the girls if they're not up already. If she doesn't get here in time I may need someone to sit with the kids too." K said, thanking her before hanging up the phone, Kitty nearly screaming out as the next contraction hit her. K turned away from her as she fought through her pain, peeking in on the sleeping little ones before returning to Kitty. She didn't want to do it, but she told her to relax as she picked up the blanket to take a look. Yeah, Celia was going to miss it. The baby was crowing and Kitty was suddenly frantic as she tried to escape the pain.

"Katherine, you're having this baby right now. I can see the head. Just get wherever it's least painful and when you're ready, go for it. We're here for you." K told her as Kitty's face went white at the news.

"No – not yet, Piotr isn't here. I can't do this without him." Kitty said tearfully. Logan looked nervous as a soft 'bamf' could be heard just outside the front door. He took it as a cue to take a break, kissing Kitty on the forehead and going to let Kurt in.

"I know, it's scary. But the little one has decided now is the time, ready or not. Just breathe, follow your body. I will help as much as I can." K told her. Kitty was ready to argue when she had to push again, her body nearly tearing itself apart to deliver the little one as she grasped at K who was steadying her as she knelt on the bed, leaning into K's shoulder. In a moment of sheer pain and desperation, Kitty found the taste of blood in her mouth. When she picked up her head from K's shoulder she realized she'd bit the woman. K didn't react at all except to direct Kitty to lay down, carefully so she could check the baby's progress. Almost there. The girls and Jean followed Kurt's entrance – the girls staying in the living room as Logan and Jean re-joined K and Kitty.

"Celia got caught behind a car accident. They wouldn't let her pass." Jean said, taking Kitty's hand and trying to help her through it by psychically blocking some of the pain receptors for her. Kitty was grateful for them as Logan stroked her hair and comforted her as only he did while K tried to assist her further. When the next contraction hit, she screamed out again as it ended. K was nodding her head to Logan.

"Good work, Kitty. You're almost done. Take a breath. When you're ready just a couple more ought to do it." K said, rubbing her back as Logan had done not long ago for her. Tear streaked and sweaty, Kitty forced herself to catch her breath quickly before resuming her labor, digging her nails into Logan's arms as she finished the job, Jean's pain blocking not being as effective as she'd hoped. K caught the baby, and wrapped it in a clean towel as Logan helped Kitty to lay down again, a massive sense of relief washing over her as she leaned back. K handed her the little one, cord still attached and Kitty's hands shaking as she met her son. Jean rearranged the blanket to cover her, leaving the room for a minute to get the kit that Kurt had brought down. Kurt was beaming, excited to meet the little one. The girls looked ill. When Jean returned to Kitty, she was smiling wearily. K sat at the foot of the bed taking a sigh of relief. Kitty had rearranged herself so she was again leaning on Logan, whose arm was around her as she cooed at her little boy. By the time Celia had arrived, the cord had been cut, and K had started the clean up. The amount of blood around her startled Kitty.

"Oh my God. The blood – there's so much of it." She was pale as she realized how incredibly messy childbirth really was. K waved it off.

"Please. Blood is not an issue around us. I'm just glad you're both alright." K told her as she and Celia helped her into a wheelchair. Logan held the baby as they got situated then handed him back to Kitty.

"Ya did good, half pint." he told her, kissing her on the cheek as Celia and Kurt took them up to the lab. K sighed heavily as he put his arm around her.

"Welcome home, sweetheart. Never a dull moment." he said chuckling as he pulled her into an embrace. She laughed a bit in response.

"Yeah. And in related news, we're going to need a new bed." he laughed at her outright. The three teenagers were still on the couch, pale faced and horrified as Jean watched Kitty head up to the mansion.

"Why did we have to come down here?" Chloe said finally trying to break up the couple as Logan nipped at K's neck. She gathered herself and turned in Logan's arms to face them.

"We needed someone here to keep an eye on the kids in case they woke up. Looks like they didn't – and, frankly, I thought it was a good idea for you girls to see, or hear at least, what labor was like. Don't want you girls having babies any time soon." K said as Logan continued to nuzzle her.

"Is it always that bad?" Jubilee asked. K nodded. "And you let him knock you up more than once? What the hell is wrong with you?" Logan looked up at her and glared.

"Alright. Go on up to bed. This was not meant as a bash men session." Jean cut in. She winked at the couple and she and the girls left. Logan barely waited before returning his attention to her.

"That's not a bad question. What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked. K sighed as she met his eyes.

"Something happens to you after you give birth. You quickly forget about all the pain. At least I do. You have this little one in your arms, and it's amazing because it looks like it's father. And you see how much you love him shining back at you with little bits of yourself. And you forget everything bad that has happened in the last nine months, because it doesn't matter anymore. And you know that given the chance to do it again – for the man you love, you know you wouldn't hesitate." she didn't get any further before he kissed her.

…...

The mansion was a buzz when the little family made their way up late the next morning. K and Logan had fallen asleep on the couch in each other's arms. When Abbey woke up, she was thrilled to see them home finally, but knew they must be very tired, so she simply climbed on the couch with them, snuggling up on her father's chest, her hand on her mother's cheek. She cooed when Logan's hand rested on her back, holding her close to him. The trio stayed that way for another good hour or so until the twins woke up. K slipped out of Logan's grasp as he held Abbey, who snuggled deeper into his arms while K got James and Rose changed and dressed. The two were happy to see her and doubly so when their father sat up holding Abbey. The little family took their time waking up before trekking up to the house after breakfast. Nothing would be going on today. Day after a major mission, reports to be done on said mission by all involved, K and Logan shaking off the jet lag from their hunt and Kitty's new baby on top of all that? No one would have work on their mind. As they walked through the door, Piotr rushed over and picked up K, squeezing her tightly and kissing her on the cheek.

"Thank you, for all you did for my precious Kitten. I don't know what she would have done without you." Piotr said, beaming. "Come, come and meet our boy." He practically carried her down the hall, Logan in their wake, the girls helping with the twins as set Abbey down to play. He smiled at Kitty when he came through the door. She grinned back at him.

"I'm glad you're here. We've chosen a name for him. Meet Michael Logan Rasputin." She beamed. He smiled as he came to her side, kissing the baby's head.

"You're going to be a great mom." he said quietly as the group around them began to buzz about who the baby looked like, and Kitty's choice of names. Suddenly she looked at K who Piotr had his arm around while he was grinning like the cat that ate the canary.

"I don't think I could have done it without your help K. Thanks for keeping me calm. Do you want to hold him?" she offered the baby toward her as K shook her head, her hands out in front of her.

"No, no that's alright. You enjoy him." K replied looking almost scared of the little guy. Logan looked at her as if she had lost her mind.

"Why not?" Piotr asked before anyone else could.

"Baby glitter. I can smell his head from here – that's quite close enough. I already pushed my luck when she delivered him. NO. I will not be holding that baby for a while." K replied. "too risky." Kitty grinned and laughed out loud.

"You know that I'm going to do everything I can to get you to hold him now, right?" Kitty replied as K shook her head no.

"I'm leaving now. I'll be back when he's six months old." K said, as Logan smirked, taking the baby from Kitty and grabbing K's hand pulling her closer until she was inches from him, practically forcing her to hold him. He was a big beautiful baby who favored his mother heavily, wearing his father's frown. K softened as she held him, Logan's arm around her back.

"He's perfect, Kitty you do good work…. and Piotr too, I suppose," she said, raising an eyebrow at the tall Russian. "But mostly Kitty." she smiled at her in what Kitty thought was one of her most lovely looks, K's eyes twinkling as she made to hand him back to her, leaning in and kissing Kitty on the cheek as she took her baby back, Logan's hands at her hips, pulling her into him as she stood up again, and wrapping his arms around her waist. Sweet family moments like this, though once rare, were quickly becoming more commonplace at Xaviers. No one was happier about it than Charles himself.

…...

"K, I'd like to chat with you a moment, if you don't mind." Charles said as the feral couple headed down the hallway. Both paused and Logan gave her a kiss then continued on without her, leaving K to talk with Charles.

"Kitty will be needing to take some time to recover. I was hoping you might be able to help fill in for one of her classes." he told her. K looked taken back. She hadn't considered herself as a real teacher – the fun stuff sure, but Kitty ran several classes that K would be of no use for.

"I'd love to help you, but I don't know what I can do – I mean, she teaches an ethics class, right? And future history what is that?" K asked as Charles smiled.

"Actually, I think you'd be perfect for the ethics class. We'll have a guest teacher for Katherine's computer hacking class, and future history will be taken over by Rachel Summers." Charles replied. K was stunned.

"How am I even in the running for ethics? I just got back from a murder spree. How is that ethical?" K asked bluntly.

"That's true. However, I have been looking at it more like a mother bear trying to protect her cubs than I did 'murder spree'. Kitty had lesson plans made up for the entire time she expects to be out, you just need to follow them. I have total faith in you, my dear." Charles said as K grudgingly agreed to his proposal. "Class will meet at the same time as Logan's history class. I'm sure you'll do splendidly."

K wasn't so sure as she watched him enter his office. A real teaching position? In a classroom?


	8. Teaching

K was pinching her nose when Logan walked in.

"That bad?" he asked as he cautiously put his arm around her.

"How do you _not_ stab them." she growled out. He chuckled.

"It's not like you don't know them. Most of them have been riding with you."

"BUT they wanted to be there. They don't want to do this and they seem to think I'm their friend." He pulled her into his arms, and started kissing her behind the ear as his hands wandered.

"You've been getting off easy, sweetheart. You've been the fun one – the one they want to see. Find a way to make it fun." he told her "Or, be prepared to be a hard ass at your riding lessons. Gotta pick one." He was kissing her properly when Scott came in to see how her class had gone before he had to be at his next class.

"So is this congratulations or consolation?" Scott said as K peeked at him over Logan's shoulder.

"Consolation." Logan chuckled. Scott smirked.

"It'll get better. Really. Tell her, Logan." Scott said as he leaned in the door. "And welcome to the other side." Scott left, shaking his head to himself and Logan squeezed her tighter.

"Now I wanna stab _him_." she growled out, causing Logan to grin in earnest before grabbing her head and kissing her deeply.

"I called that one first." he teased, leading her out of the classroom. They made their way to the kitchen for coffee when a familiar voice called out to them.

"Hey now – there's a face I haven't seen in a while." Starks' voice rang out as K froze.

"What the hell are you doing here?" K asked as Logan handed her a mug.

"I'm the temporary computer hacking teacher until Kitty comes off baby leave." he replied proudly. "Honestly, they should have asked me years ago. No one's better really." K took a deep breath as she took her mug to sit by the window with her husband – about as far from Stark as they could get. Until, of course, he pulled up a chair to sit next to her anyhow.

"Speaking of – how are you taking to being the little mother? Heard Logan's been keeping you busy." Stark said with a grin. Dear God, he was going to spend all of Kitty's maternity leave pestering the shit out of her. Logan growled at him in warning. He was quickly getting close to crossing several lines. K sighed and went back to pressing her fist against her eyelid. The pressure seemed to help her focus on not stabbing someone.

"Tony, darling." K said as sweetly as she could muster. He leaned closer at her wording. "I will try to say this as nicely as I can, but I will only say it once."

"Yes, dear?" he said with a grin as Logan glared at him.

"Don't push me or I will slice off your balls and force feed them to you. Am I clear?" She said calmly and evenly, resting her hand on his then giving him a little pat. Logan smirked as Tony paled.

"Is that strictly ethical?" Tony asked, unable to control himself.

"As it stands, I'm only the _substitute_ ethics teacher. I only go by what's on the page in front of me that someone else wrote while I'm in class." she said with a smile. Tony pulled his hand back from her and sat back in his chair nodding.

"Got it. I'll try talking with you when you've had a little better morning." He said watching her carefully.

"That would be wise, Mr. Stark." K said as she glared.

…...

It took nearly two weeks for her to get into the swing of things fully. When she had finally gotten somewhat comfortable Charles had her for tea to discuss things in general.

"I knew you'd do well, my dear. You just had to approach it a little differently." Charles told her as she poured him a fresh cup.

"I'm still not any good at this. It's not a subject I'm totally comfortable with." K said as she leaned back, James pulling himself up next to her and grinning while Rose did the same near Jean. Abbey was once again sitting with Charles.

"Just keep up the good work. The students have enjoyed your unique perspective." he told her. "If you wouldn't mind, Piotr's class is in need of a model again. Would you be so kind as to pose for a week or so while Kitty and Piotr visit their parents?" K of course agreed, not thinking to ask who the teacher would be for the class.

…...

She showed up to art class in her yoga clothes. She didn't feel like going full on leotard. Her figure was as good as it ever was, but her outlook on it was highly negative. When she got to the class, she didn't even look to see who was running it, simply hanging her flannel over shirt on a hook near the door before stepping to the center of the easels, settling herself into an easy to hold pose. The class had barely started when Stark's voice rang out from behind the easels.

"Make sure you pay attention to the curve where her side meets her hip." He said to one of the young artists directly behind her. "It's a tough curve to follow." K glared at him. Talk about being set up. She had to listen to Stark critique every angle of her body now? She clenched her jaw as he continued talking, finally pulling a blanket to the center of the easels and spreading it out for her to lay on for the last pose of the day, taking the time to try to put her limbs where he wanted them, Chloe turning red as he rested his hand above K's knee. She did everything she could to NOT slap him, rushing to grab her flannel at the end of class when he stepped in front of her.

"I wanted to apologize for the other day. I just get carried away sometimes. I'm really not that much of an ass." he said, blocking her from leaving as he leaned across the doorway.

"Tony, all due respect, I've spent a lot of time with you already. You can't lie to me like that. You are an ass." she said turning to him. He looked downtrodden. "Most of the time. However, now and again, you surprise me and act like a decent human being. Go for more of that. You're wonderful when you aren't being an ass." He smirked as she squeezed under his arm, slipping past him toward the front door. She had just enough time to prep for riding.

…...

Kitty and Piotr returned early from their trip, Kitty's mother hadn't scheduled her time very wisely and had expected for them to wait around for her while she cajoled with her friends. It took one day of that for the young family to pack up and leave. It was a stark contrast to the warm welcome they'd gotten from what was left of Piotr's family.

"Kitty! You guys aren't supposed to be back yet – what happened?" K asked as Kitty sat down next to her, Abbey running over to her for a hug.

"My mother. She's too busy to spend time, so we just came back."

"How are you feeling? Healing up alright?"

"Alright. Getting better every day. I don't expect to be out for the full six weeks. I'm already going stir crazy. So I needed to ask if you're on board to help with Michael while I do my classes. I know you'll already have yours but is that too much?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course I'll help." K replied, frowning at her as Kitty relaxed.

"I was just worried that you might not want to …. seeing as you're afraid to hold him." Kitty smirked.

"I am not _afraid _to hold him. I'm just reluctant. Logan get's this _look_ when I have a baby in my arms and I'm just not going there." K said matter-of-factually. Kitty laughed.

"I know. I saw it. I'm sorry but it's funny." Kitty said with a smile. K glared.

"Just wait until Piotr gives you that look. It's not funny. It's about the only damn time that man can scare me." K replied, causing a fit of laughter from Kitty. K ended up joining her laughter. After a little while, Kitty wiped the tears from her eyes as she got control of herself.

"All the things that Logan does – you've seen him berserk, drenched in blood, threatening to kill YOU even and he doesn't really scare you until he gives you 'the look'. That, my friend is hilarious." Kitty said, smirking. "One of the most normal, natural things he can do as a man to his wife and THAT is what scares you." she shook her head as James made his way to her. "And look at the pretty babies you make."

"Says the woman that makes pregnancy look easy." K replied.

"Says the woman that makes recovering from labor look easy." Kitty countered. K nodded her head in concession.

…...

Two weeks passed with things going as they had, K covering for Kitty, Stark harassing K every chance he got until Kitty asked K to help with Michael while she spoke with Charles. Normally, the little one would have gone with, but he'd been fussy and needed more attention than he'd get at the meeting, so K took him, humming and swaying as he settled down. Her little ones were playing at her feet and Michael was snuggled into her neck when she spotted Stark leaning in the door frame. She chose to ignore him as the little guy fell asleep.

"You know, I never did understand what is so enticing about having kids. BUT, seeing a fearsome little thing like you with that baby – kind of intrigued." Stark said as he walked into the room. "It's a good look on you." He looked over her shoulder at the little boy yawning now as he snuggled in. "Wow. He looks a lot like his mom."

"Yes he does." K replied. It was the first civil thing she'd said to him in weeks even as he put a hand on her shoulder and hip to lean close. She wasn't sure if he was looking at the baby, or trying to take a peek down her shirt. She didn't seem to realize how cozy he'd gotten with her until she stepped forward to lay the little one down in his bassinet. When she sat down in the window seat a few minutes later, James came up to her rubbing his eyes and yawning. She smiled to him and picked him up as he got friendly. She was purposely trying to ignore Tony's presence – made harder by the fact that he sat next to her, picking up Rose as Abbey continued to color & sing to herself. For some reason, Rose had taken to him, giggling at the faces he made.

"At least she thinks I'm funny." he said, frowning at K.

"She's not even two yet. Your maturity level is about the same." K replied as James got comfortable on his mother.  
"That one looks just like Logan. Why'd he get so unlucky?"

"Is there a reason you're pestering me?" K asked, irritated.

"Actually yes. I know you said no before, but I'm going to need someone trustworthy to help on a mission."

"Tony, I will not play bodyguard for you again."

"Hear me out." He said, he didn't look like he was trying to be an ass. "I don't need a bodyguard." She looked at him as he spoke now. "I need a woman's opinion." She wrinkled her nose at him.

"I told you I'm not having anything to do with your penis." K said as Tony grinned.

"No, you made that clear." he said with a smirk. "I want to ask Pepper to marry me. I need help." Her eyebrows went up and her mouth dropped.

"Really? I didn't realize you were serious." K said, softening to him instantly. He nodded.

"It's always been her. I uh, I have the ring." he said, pulling the box out of his pocket.

"Oh, that's so sweet, you're carrying it around with you." K said, teasing him as he opened it to show her a massive cluster of sapphires around an obscenely large diamond. "It's so you." she said with a smirk. "What do you need my help with?" He let out a breath as he put the ring back in his pocket.

"I don't know how to propose. I need to set it up some how. I don't know a whole lot of married people – so tell me, how did Logan ask you?" he asked sincerely, K grimacing as he asked.

"Yeah, that won't work with her." K said as Stark grinned.

"Why what did he do?" Tony asked as K blushed. "Oh god. He asked you in bed, didn't he?" K shrugged.

"Seemed like a good idea at the time." K replied. Tony shook his head.

"Well, that is how most men would prefer to do it – though I don't know of anyone other than him that it's worked for. Wow. Yeah, that's a man's idea of a proposal." he laughed. "And you went for it? Really? I was hoping for some great story about him down on one knee begging for your hand."

"Well there was kneeling involved at some point." K replied as Tony's mouth dropped.

"Dirty girl. Good lord. Alright. Don't ask Logan for proposal advice." he said shaking his head.

"Tony, it's easy. Keep it simple. If it's from the heart, and she feels the same way – you're golden. Don't over complicate things." K said honestly. He watched her for a moment weighing her words.

"And his proposal was from the heart? Because coming from a guy …. that was from a different place."

"Well, that was special circumstances. There were other elements in play – it wasn't just sex." K said as Tony stood, Rose still holding onto him tightly. "It was just timed right. He took me totally off guard." He thanked her and gave 'his littlest girlfriend' a kiss on the nose before handing her to her mother and kissing K on the top of the head.

"Thanks, sweetie. I'll let you know how it goes." Tony said, turning on his heel and casually walking out the door as Logan walked in, Tony grinning as he passed him. She crossed her fingers for him, hoping that the next time she saw him he'd be happily spoken for.

"What's got him in such a good mood? Usually you level him." Logan said as he took the seat Tony had just vacated.

"Says he's gonna ask Pepper to make him an honest man." K replied, Logan nodding in understanding.

"So what did he want?"

"To know how you asked." K replied, her eyebrow arched up as she smirked.

"Hell, that shouldn't have worked with you. Surprised you didn't kick my ass for it. Sure as hell won't go over with Pepper." he replied. She smiled at him.

"Why did that work again?" she asked.

"I'll show ya later."


	9. Never Quiet for Long

Come Monday morning, there was no sign of Tony. Scott was buzzing around with his panties in a knot panicking over his missing substitute.

"Scott, relax. You don't know what happened this weekend." K said calmly over her coffee, Logan next to her not saying a word. Scott turned on her, looking for someone to take his frustration out on.

"What the hell happened this weekend? Avengers didn't go out – there aren't any major headlines concerning Stark Industries …. what else is there?" Scott barked leaning on the table as he snarled at her. K calmly set her mug down before leaning forward so that she was just a few inches from his nose.

"There is more to life than the teams and companies people run. He may just be late – you don't know. His class isn't until after lunch today, so do everyone a favor – switch to decaf and yank that knot out of your ass." She replied unblinking, her voice like silk. Logan was glaring at him. He hated when Scott got this way anyhow but trying to take it out on K was going to do nothing but get his ass kicked. Then he'd be down more than just Stark. Scott's mouth tightened and his shoulders dropped.

"You know something I don't." he said to K quietly as he stood up.

"Imagine that." she replied.

"You care to share?"

"Nope. Not my business to share."

"Then if he doesn't show you get to cover the class."

"Fine." K replied totally relaxed looking. Scott was stumped. He was sure that would get her to spill.

"You could try callin' him, Scooter." Logan said dryly. "If you're that damned nervous." The words no sooner left Logan's mouth when the front door flew open and Stark strutted in, grinning. He made a beeline to the table and grabbed K by the shoulders, pulling her to her feet and kissing her.

"You were right. Thank you so much – oh, and sorry. Logan, don't kill me – it was a thank you!" he spit out, backing away from the couple as K's wiped her mouth off.

"Tongue is not a thank you." K replied as Logan took a step forward, Stark retreating as he did so, his hands outstretched, palms open.

"Got carried away! Stop, just … listen!" Stark said. Logan was ready to pound him. "I got engaged this weekend – her advice worked."

"My advice didn't work, idiot. She loves you and just went with it. I had nothing to do with it." K spit out, arms crossed. Logan paused long enough to unclench his fist before he slapped the back of his head, Stark nearly loosing his footing anyhow and now seeing stars.

"Congratulations. You so much as _think_ about kissin' my wife like that again and I'll cut your tongue out." Logan growled as he stalked back to his seat, pulling K down onto his lap. Blinking, Tony stared at him a moment.

"Yeah, that wasn't very well thought out, was it." he replied.

"Congratulations, I didn't know you were that serious about Pepper. Are you going to be teaching today, Tony?" Scott said, arms crossed as K managed to slip from Logan's grasp to get a fresh cup of coffee. As she passed him, she pinched his ass hard, making him jump and turn toward her angry.

"Lighten up, Scott. He's here. He'll do it today. And I hope I bruised you." she said dryly as she poured a new cup.

"How did you bruise him?" Jean asked as she stepped into the kitchen. Before Scott could bust her, she did it herself.

"Pinched his ass. I think he's got a stick up there." K replied, getting a real smile from Jean.

"Is there going to be a cat fight? Because I can call off the engagement." Stark said, grinning. Jean just laughed.

"Catfight, no – mudwrestling, maybe. No, he needs it now and again, and I know there's no interest there. K, take it easy on him. He's under a lot of stress." she replied as K handed her the sugar.

"You know my cure. Go on – you'll both like it." K replied as she made her way back to a smirking Logan. Both Jean and Scott blushed bright red, knowing that K was again telling them to have more sex.

"You're a deviant." Scott said in his attempt to tease.

"Maybe, but I don't hear any complaints." K replied, refusing to let Scott get a rise from her.

…...

Classes continued as scheduled for another two weeks when Kitty returned for good, juggling babies, school and missions both she and K began to grow close. It was natural and unavoidable. They were learning to read each other wordlessly, and it seemed they'd have conversations to each other without ever saying anything.

That was probably why one random afternoon Colossus panicked when he walked into the living room finding K pushing Kitty's face into the carpet, her foot at the back of her head as she wrenched her arms backward and growling low.

"K! What are you doing? Let her go!" Piotr shouted as he approached the pair.

"I would if it was Kitty, but it's not." K growled out, nearly snarling. "Touch me and lose an arm, Pete. If it was Kitty, she would've phased." she warned as Kitty turned purple, choking as K applied more pressure. She coughed, gasped and gave a final push to free herself only to pass out as Logan walked in the door, rushing forward to stop his wife from killing his adoptive daughter. As he reached her, Kitty's body began to shimmer under K's foot, showing that K was right all along. Unconscious and bruised, there lay Mystique. Piotr's jaw locked. Suddenly he realized that the room was overly quiet. The kids were gone. He quickly took over as K let her arms go, snatching the villain up and dragging her to the danger room.

"Shouldn't she go to the med lab?" Bobby asked as Piotr grimly hauled her off.

"Nyet. I will question her where she cannot get away from me." he answered, K punching in the code to open the room, following him in with Logan as they kicked out the class that was convened there.

"Scott, seal the room." Logan growled out to an angry looking Cyclops in the booth.

"What's going on, Logan?" Scott asked, standing up to get a better look at the shape shifter.

"She was impersonating Kitty. K caught her at it." he growled back. "Have Jeannie do a scan for Kitty. Don't know right now where she is, and she had Michael at the time." Scott nodded, as he understood now that Kitty's son may well be missing with Kitty herself. Piotr dropped her in the center of the floor and K made her way over to her. "Careful, sweetheart." Logan warned as she stopped, standing with one foot on either side of the shape shifter's torso, looking over her shoulder at her husband with a concentrated expression of rage clear on her face. She leaned over and slapped her hard.

"Wake up." she growled as her hand made contact. Mystique's eyes flew open and she screamed, startled as she tried to scurry away from K. K wouldn't have it though. "Where's Kitty?" K asked as Mystique took a swing at her. K caught her fist and twisted her arm, turning it back on itself, and twisting until Mystique's' body was forced to turn to accommodate the torque she was using on her – a vain attempt to avoid her arm breaking. "I said where's Kitty?" K whispered low as she pushed on her arm further taking it all the way to the breaking point and waiting for an excuse to snap it just a tiny bit more.

"K take it easy. That's not how we do things here." Scott said from the booth.

"Maybe that's why they all think they can waltz in here whenever they want and hurt people." K snarled at him before turning her focus back to the pained woman beneath her. "I won't ask you again without breaking something." Mystique's' eyes widened. No one told her Logan's wife had a worse temper than him. She'd been set up.

"Daken! Daken has them. He sent me to slow you down, but he didn't even get an hour before this _bitch_ found me out – don't break it!" she screamed, Logan and Piotr staring at her the same grim expression on both their faces. K's eyes narrowed.

"What else – tell it all or you'll be in traction." K said – she was sure the woman was lying. Logan couldn't help but smirk as his wife manhandled her. He and Piotr basically just standing watch as K pressed her advantage.

"He wasn't after Kitty – he was after the kids." Mystique spit out. "He has them. All of them – and if I don't get back to him when I'm supposed to – in once piece, he's going to kill them." A loud **snap** echoed the room as Mystique began to scream and a low, rumbling growl echoed through the room. Piotr snatched K up off of her – clearly she was more than ready to kill her right now. K struggled in Piotr's arms kicking and squirming until Logan came to her side, holding her head in his hands.

"Darlin' – we're not going to get them back like that. We need her to get us to Daken." He said quietly, anger in his voice as he tried to keep himself in check. He was nearly undone when she picked her head up to look at him, her hair no longer obscuring her face. He'd never seen such pure rage on her before, tears streamed down her cheeks as she clearly was snapping at the confirmation of her suspicions on finding someone impersonating her friend. Mystique was holding her broken arm, glaring at K.

"I should just let him kill them for that, you stupid bitch." Mystique hissed at her. As K raged trying to get loose from Colossus, Logan turned to her.

"You do and you can bet I won't hold her back. Only thing you'll have to worry about is which one of us gets to you first. You went too far this time, Raven." Logan said, shaking in his fury as he stalked toward her. "Bring me to them." Mystique smirked.

"No. You'll never find me once I get out of here – and you know I'll get out." she said to him – far more cocky when talking with him than when K had control of the room. Logan didn't blink as he and Mystique stared each other down, eyes locked. The room was silent but for K's unrelenting growl while she continued to struggle against Colossus. Minutes ticked by and all that had happened was Mystique glaring harder and more contemptuously at him.

"Let her go, Pete." Logan said quietly. Mystique flinched as she heard K's feet touch the floor. Never dropping the stare, Logan simply stepped to the side as K rushed past him, Mystique backing away as fast as her feet would move her – but not fast enough as the little adamantine woman launched herself at her, pounding her full force, breaking ribs and fingers, knocking out teeth and when she tried to defend herself, punching the spot where the arm was already broken, smashing the bone further and causing her to nearly black out as she screamed.

"ALRIGHT! I'll talk! I'm sorry! Please – stop her!" Mystique screamed out as K's beating started to crescendo. Logan made his way into the fray, ordering her to stop as she had her on her stomach, sitting on her back with her head in her hands, ready to smash her face into the floor.

"Stop now." Logan said, K freezing, her fingers digging into Mystique's' scalp as she wanted nothing more than to pound her into a fine mist. "Stop so we can see where they are." K was panting as she considered him. The look on his face held the unspoken promise that she could always continue later. Before letting her go, K leaned forward to address her directly.

"If I think for one instant you are lying to me or thinking about lying to me about where my children are – or if they are hurt in any way when I find them, I promise you that you and everyone you hold dear will suffer. Do you understand me?" K whispered. Unable to nod, she grunted out a quiet 'yes' before K dropped her, standing up and walking away as Jean appeared in the booth alongside Scott. Her voice flooded K's senses. _K, keep her focus on you, I'm searching her mind now. Please don't panic, K. The little ones are alright, I can feel them – they're a little scared, but they're alright._ Mystique's' eyes were locked on K. Logan had threatened over the years many times to kill her, but K made no such threats. It was clear that one wrong move with this woman would be fatal, and there would be no warning. Her stomach fell as she realized that she'd truly crossed the line. K continued to circle her, her eyes locked on her, Mystique terrified enough that she never took her eyes off her, twisting her body as needed to keep her in her sight line as she was interrogated by the X-Men.

…...

Within a few minutes, a small team was loading up ready to go after the little ones. It seemed that without their parent's consent, the little ones were already well on their way to their first trip to Japan. The implications of it had Logan nervous.There were far too many old enemies of his waiting for them when they got there. His wife was ready to crack. Her fluid predatory stance hadn't eased even the tiniest bit since their fears were confirmed. The only affection she'd accept from him was his arm around her as they sat on the jet. Mystique was neutralized by an inhibitor and in tow, K's eyes never leaving her the entire flight, rarely blinking. Logan was worried about her. Before he could take a moment to ask for help, he watched her eyes start to flutter suddenly. Her body seeming to relax of it's own volition, K confused by her body's betrayal, suddenly her focus went to Jean.

"Stop it." K said as her eyes grew heavier.

"Sleep." Jean said in response, K fighting it as she suddenly lost her internal battle – Jean concentrating fairly hard on her forcing her to relax. She slumped against Logan and all in the jet took a breath of relief. "I'm sorry Logan. I'll wake her when we get close again. But she needs to rest." Logan nodded grimly. This was a singularly new experience with the same old ache he was far too familiar with. His whole life he'd wanted a family – when he thought he was in the clear, they were taken from him, his wife too. Now here he was again – a real family – again, at severe risk while his lost son held his small children hostage for who knows what end. He loved K more than he thought himself capable. She was everything he'd ever wanted in a woman – more even, and now, K was going to suffer for it. She was already. Knowing Daken as he did, this would only end in one of two ways. Death of Logan himself, and likely the children, or death of Daken – and likely the children.

"Don't think that way, Logan. You have help. The X-Men are here to assist you. No one will die tonight." Jean said, unable to block Logan's thoughts from her mind. He started to shake his head. "Logan, you've never been afraid of a fight. This one matters. Fight for your family's sake. But for now, you too need to _sleep._" his eyelids felt heavy as he slumped, the two of them looking as if they'd been in an embrace as they slept on, the jet full of their team mates and family ready and willing to throw it on the line for them.


	10. The Prodigal Pain

Mystique had become very helpful once Jean threatened to wipe her clean and turn off her abilities. She was now more scared of the X-Men than she was Daken. She showed them where to go, Daken's base of operations was centered in Sapporo in the northern part of the country and at this time of year was rather cold. She slipped them in to a hidden entrance, leading them nearly directly to Kitty and the children – all of them perfectly safe and healthy, but also quite happy to see their parents and their beloved aunts and uncles. Right off the bat, Scott blasted the lock on the inhibitor Kitty had on as she snuggled the little ones, handing them to various members that were more than willing to cuddle the kids. Logan was wary. It was too easy. No extraction had ever gone this easy, particularly any kidnapping they'd ever intervened on. He decided to scout while the rest of the team secured the kids and Kitty. They were removing them when Logan was jumped by Daken. The battle was swift and fierce – too fast for anyone to try to assist on either man's part. Daken was raging at him, but Logan was well beyond that. Furious beyond comprehension that he'd been so arrogant as to kidnap his and K's children, not to mention Kitty and Michael. They fought viciously, both of them breaking down into a berserk rage, neither feeling the damage they were receiving as they duked it out. Suddenly, Daken had found himself in a position to threaten the little ones directly after kicking Logan hard enough to throw him backward. His claws were inches from his little brother's head and Remy, who held him. Logan froze, raising his hands in surrender as K slowly and carefully peeled Rose off and slid her into Jean's arms, her own hands raised as well. Before he could make the strike, Jean put her telekinesis to work, holding Daken in place in an attempt to protect the child from his big brother. Remy rushing closer to the group, hushing the little boy as K stepped past him, stepping up to Daken just as he broke through Jean's restraint and right into K's ready stance. Logan shouted out for her to back off from him as she took him on directly against Logan's advice.

"He has to pay. He doesn't deserve the happy little family." Daken spit out, hatred clear on his face. "And you! You encourage him! You deserve to die, little whore." he hissed in her ear.

"Maybe. But you need to quit acting like a spoiled little brat. You want your father's approval? How about you act like a man and quit trying to make everyone miserable." K snarled back, landing a punch on him, extending her claws just as she made contact. He responded in kind, the two of them battling ferociously until Daken could get a break from her, his hoard of ninja swarming in around all of them. Logan looked totally panicked as he battled the mass of ninjas, calling out to her, trying to see what was happening with his wife and son, unable to split his focus as wave after wave of combatants rained down on him and the X-Men. Jean was shielding the little ones from the attack and pushing her way out. Daken thought over his options. The ninjas were not, as everyone seemed to think, an endless supply. The damned X-Men were wiping out massive numbers of his men. Mystique had done well leading them there but he hadn't expected his father to accept help from the rest of the X-Men. He saw his chance to do damage though. This could likely be his best chance to hurt his father. Sabretooth had told him that killing his father's women was the best, lasting way to hurt him, leaving out of course, his own involvement in Itsu's death. It was time to see if Creed had led him right. He dodged into the swarm of black around K, landing a solid hit, stabbing her through a lung and her diaphragm, several brave ninja grabbing her arms to hold her still for their master. He watched her for a second, her blood trickling down his arm and now from her nose too. He looked around wildly trying to spot Mystique. AH. He smiled at her and she nodded, dropping down nearly to the same place that K stood, morphing herself into K's image and shoving a gag in her mouth before she could call out. She turned to the ninja's making a show of 'fighting' her. Jean called out to K and Logan to get back to the plane. K realized the trouble she was in, scrambling to get loose as they tweaked her hands backwards, making it impossible to pop her claws as they hauled her off, her thoughts centered on the pain she was in as Daken twisted his wrist. He had them mass around her tightly as she gasped for air, struggling to breathe as they ran her towards the waiting helicopter.

Minutes later, Logan's tortured roar echoed through the building as he realized the woman he finally made it to in the middle of the ninjas was not K at all. Daken grinned as the chopper lifted off, Mystique shouting at him from the rooftop, well after they were airborne and on their way, Logan furious and hot on her heels. He'd promised to take her with. Clearly he lied. They hadn't gone far before K began to heal, Daken watching her closely.

"You're going to be as hard to kill as my father." he said as she tried to gather herself, his boot holding her down on the floor by her throat. "I think I have a few ideas though." His tone was calm. "You know, he won't go looking for you. He'll give up, wait for the telepaths to find you, then if you're lucky he'll make a point to bury your body. So I guess I'll have to do something that will numb your mind from them, and make sure that if they ever find you, there won't be enough left for him to mourn." he smirked as he looked her over a little closer, shaking his head as he motioned for one of his crew. "You're not even his type. You can't be that worthwhile in bed, no matter what Creed said." She was dizzy suddenly as she realized the crew member had given her a shot. She fought to stay awake as Daken lifted his foot from her neck, air coming easier, but her senses fading out, seeing only his hateful smirk as her eyes closed on their own.

She had no idea how much time had passed. When her eyes finally fluttered open, she was tied tightly, her hands and legs bound. They must be getting close to their destination as the chopper suddenly felt as if all forward motion had ceased. With no warning, she was doused with buckets of icy water, the door on the side of the helicopter opened, frigid winter air blasting inside.

"I won't tell you where you are, just in case some silly telepath wants to butt in. Nice meeting you, K. I'm sure under better circumstances, I might even have liked you as a step mother." He said before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek while he stabbed her with some sharp object, K leaning into him, her head on his shoulder as he broke it off at the handle, allowing her to lean on him a moment, holding her in his arms before gently directing her to the open door and kicking her bound body out of the helicopter into a near white out squall.

…...

Logan had seen the chopper take off, Mystique screaming at them to come back for her, suddenly terrified to be so close to Logan. She was injured already and now he was convinced that this was the plan all along. Frustrated and angry, he rushed her, claws out ready to finish her off even as she begged for her life, trying to get him to see that this was not how it was supposed to go. It didnt' matter. He was beyond reason. Jean's voice echoed in his head to just get back to the jet as Mystique fought him for her life. He was desperate to hurt her when his rage truly overtook him as it hadn't in years. When he regained his senses she was bled out at his feet, her eyes staring off blankly. Cyclops saw the tail end of it.

"Where's K – I thought she was with you." Scott said as he stared at the mutilated corpse. Logan barely registered him, only his eyes rising to meet him.

"Gone. The ol' switcheroo. Mystique was playin' K until I got close enough to scent her. By the time I realized it, they were gone." Logan said in a monotone, very unlike his normal responses. "He's gonna kill her, Scott." Scott shook his head.

"No. Not if we can help it." he replied, urging his old friend and rival to return to the jet with him, Jean already searching now for K or Daken or any one of the men aboard the chopper they left on. They'd only been gone a short time. They couldn't have gotten far. When Scott finally got Logan on board, Abbey ran to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She knew something was wrong, and Logan held her as if he'd been missing her for weeks, tenderly kissing her on top of her head as she patted his neck.

"I think we have them on radar, Logan – look." Kitty said, pulling up the on board detection systems. Still holding his little girl, he headed toward the front of the jet, looking at the maps on screen. There was snow on the ground in this part of the country, still more or less the middle of winter. He watched the flight path on screen, trying to decipher where they could start to look for her.

"Based on the type of chopper they were using, their range isn't really that great. There's a storm coming in from Russia too, so we're going to have to pinpoint it quickly." Scott said analyzing the maps as they flew north, following the radar signature from the chopper. "Just have to hope that they're still on the island. If they crossed the sea of Japan, we could have trouble." Logan's heart jumped. Even with a limited range, there was a ton of territory to cover. "We're scanning all the warehouses, research and military facilities in the area. I hate to say it, but Adamantium shouldn't be too hard to pinpoint."

"Drop me off outside of the city." Logan said, his face grim.

"We have no idea where he's supposed to be. We need a direction before you go sniffing around." Storm said as James nuzzled into her hair.

"I can't just stand around and wait. If I don't look now, I won't find her." Logan argued. "I have to try."

…...

As K fell from the chopper, she thought for a moment she'd lucked out landing in a deep drift. At least it broke her fall. She got up as soon as she heard the chopper leave, trying to find a way out of where ever she was. She tried to stand, cringing and falling to her knees again as the sharp pain in her side complained to her. Wasting no more time, she began to untie her ropes – pulling at the knots with her teeth until her hands were freed, reaching to her side to find a wound that was bleeding freely. Something was still in there, every movement she made caused it to move too, widening it's damage path inside her. The arctic winds on her cold wet skin had her shivering uncontrollably, even her shivers causing the foreign object Daken had stabbed her with to cut a little more. Carefully, she tried to get up, her body already stiffening in the cold, her clothes freezing solid to her skin, both the water and blood running down her side turning to ice quickly in the bitter cold. Shivering and half hunched over she tried to look around her. Nothing as far as she could see – which didn't say much seeing as the wind was blowing snow everywhere. She decided to head in the direction the chopper flew off, hoping it would lead her towards civilization, and by extension, the possibility of help.

The snow was deep, a crust on it maybe a foot under the soft blowing stuff on top. She sunk in every other footstep or so going from thigh deep to at least hip deep, struggling to keep moving as she shivered violently. When she fell through an especially deep spot, going nearly to her chest, she realized she couldn't feel her hands anymore. No matter, she had to try to keep going. Of all the stupid things to happen, she was not going to die like this, freezing in some God forsaken foreign hell hole. It took her what seemed like hours to get out of that hole, finally making some progress on a thick crust of icy snow, for a good ten minutes or so before she sunk down in another low spot. Swearing she dug herself out, seeing now that her arms were numb, and her fingers weren't working, her legs were not being very cooperative either. She tried to turn her head, finally laughing to herself when she found her hair frozen to her back. This wasn't shaping up to be good at all. She thought about it, even as her brain started to do strange things. Yes, it would be smarter to maybe dig into a drift. Wait for the storm to pass and hope she didn't freeze to death in the process. That's exactly what she did, knowing that continuing to walk would have her frozen to death for sure.

…...

It was another six hours before Logan's earpiece went off – they'd gotten a hold of the chopper. That didn't fare well in his mind. That meant it took nearly three hours for them to get back. Daken slipped out before the chopper landed – knowing that his father's friends would be looking for him. The crew however proved to be more helpful than Daken could have been even under the best of circumstances.

"Give me your location, you're wasting your time." Scott said as Jean finished with the chopper's pilot. Logan crouched on top of a warehouse roof outside the city of Kashiro.

"You know where she is?" Logan asked, hopeful.

"Kind of. She's in Russia. Hank got a hold of the Avengers. Stark and Thor are on the way - they were in Tokyo already. I gotta tell ya, Logan, your other team is pretty ticked off you didn't even try to get their help. What's the point of being on any team if you insist on going it alone all the time?" Scott scolded.

"Where are the kids, Scooter?" Logan asked, ignoring the commentary.

"Blackbird's on it's way home. You've got Hank, Jean, Storm, Jubilee and I to assist."

"Jubilee?"

"She insisted on helping. Jean said she'd be worse off if we didn't let her stay."

"How're we gonna get to Russia with no blackbird?"

"Stark's got his jet here. We'll figure it out." Logan didn't answer, but instead turned on the pinpoint device on his com, slipping from the building so they could find him easier.

…...

This wasn't working out too well. The wind was blowing badly enough that her little drift shelter kept blowing away. There was little she could do to protect herself from the cold, already half frozen as darkness fell. It was just going to get colder. She couldn't stand upright anymore. She couldn't feel the wound at her side either. Her hands felt frozen solid and she couldn't feel her face or limbs. Moving forward, she found a hard patch of ground that didn't cave in on her when she walked. Of course, she wasn't moving very fast anymore, the wind at her back as she trudged onward, shuffling her feet, stumbling more and more often. She paused a moment and looked down, realizing she'd lost a boot somewhere. It didn't really register what that could mean, or how that could happen. On seeing her own blue bare foot, she found herself fantasizing about killing Mystique as she walked down a tropical beach. She was suddenly feeling very hot, and though it made no sense to anyone that could have seen her at that moment, she began to take off her frozen jacket. Dropping it in the snow as she continued to walk.

…...

When the group all met up, Logan was pacing, clenching and unclenching his hands – a nervous habit when he couldn't do what he needed to.

"You alright, old man?" Stark said, addressing Logan. Jubilee was hovering as near to him as she thought wise, never having seen him this wound up before.

"We gonna leave yet?" Logan growled, patience was not his strong point today.

"Can't do much until the leading edge of the storm passes. Even my suit will freeze up in a damn Russian snow storm." Stark answered, bringing up several screens for the group to analyze.

"We don't need to wait, show me where we need to go and I will clear our way." Storm cut in. She was worried for him and the little ones. Stark weighed her offer.

"Yes, I'm well aware of your talents, but apparently they left her in a wildlife preserve. No aircraft allowed." Stark replied. "So clearing the weather for a jet wouldn't help us if their military comes after us." Frustrated, Logan huffed as he walked out of the room as Scott argued that military couldn't go out in the storm either. They knew generally where she was, but they couldn't get him there. Thor stepped out behind him.

"Wolverine, I think I may have a solution. I will fly you there now. The rest can follow you." Thor offered. Logan didnt' hesitate before nodding. In an instant, Thor had grabbed a hold of his friend and Mjolnir was swinging, lifting the two of them into the leading front of the storm.

…...

Snow blew over K's head as she laid on her side, staring off into the blinding whiteness around her. She was truly alone now, when she reached out for it, she couldn't find that bond that she shared with Logan. She didn't know if it was because she couldn't think or if it was from some other interference. She could hardly move more than to shiver as the arctic winds blew down on her and even that was slowing down. The sound of the chopper was now a far distant memory, the wind roaring in her ears the only sound near her now. Daken was right. No one was going to find her. But she was actually, somehow fine with that. She knew that her little ones were in the Summer's care, and her husband was alive and well as far as she could tell. That's really all that mattered. Her hands clenched tighter as her eyes closed. When she closed her eyes she was home, in Logan's cabin, the kids at her feet, playing happily as the fire crackled and the snow fell gently outside, She was wrapped up in his arms, warm and cozy. She knew it was all her mind playing tricks on her, but she'd used up all her tricks to keep warm. Now she prayed that if Logan ever found her he'd forgive her for failing.

…...


	11. Frozen

When they touched down near where the pilot said their target area was, there was literally nothing to see. Vast rolling hills covered in white, treetops poking out here and there in the arctic blast, snow blowing, catching on any small bump in the terrain, but worst of all, he couldn't smell anything but snow. The two of them began to search, the snow thigh deep on Logan as they trekked across the uneven terrain. The pilot could only narrow it down to a twenty mile square area. Hell, he couldn't find his own tracks let alone his wife. The gravity of the situation seemed to increase exponentially as the facts were laid out in front of him. Looking at the wide terrain ahead, he turned to Thor.

"Can you find this spot again?" he shouted to the tall blonde. Thor nodded. "Go get Storm. If she's out here she'll freeze to death before this blow lets up."

"What about you, friend?" Thor asked, not exactly wanting to leave him alone in such a mess.

"I've got to start lookin' for her." He said as he leaned into the wind, trekking into the wilderness.

…...

"What the hell were you thinking, taking him out there? He'll freeze to death too!" Jubilee shouted at the Asgardian God.

"Young one, we shall find her. Have faith." he told her, amused by her boldness. The team packed up quickly and headed out, Storm parting the clouds and giving them a clear quiet space to look for her, Logan simply picking up pace when the wind cleared, praying for a sign in the snow. They were there nearly an hour when Jean shook her head grimly looking at her husband. She could find no sign of her in the barren landscape. No indication of her mental signature. Stark was having trouble with his sensors too. For some unknown reason, there was some kind of interference that was keeping his high tech scanners from functioning properly. Jubilee had wandered nearly to the edge of Storm's still spot, kicking snow as she did. She wasn't expecting to find anything and even without all the wind it was colder than hell out there. Jeez. If Wolvie couldn't smell her, and Jean couldn't find her, this was probably a waste of time. She kicked a larger pile of snow and gasped. Kneeling down, she picked up the frozen piece of fabric. Was that … a jacket? She held it in her hands, shocked that she'd actually found a piece of the puzzle, the x-men insignia shining up at her from the stiff mass. In the stillness, she called out cautiously.

"Wolvie …." his head whipped over to her, his face falling when he spotted the material in her hands. He snatched it from her, holding it to his face, inhaling deeply.

"She can't be far and the damn things frozen solid." he nearly whispered, circling out from that point, unable to find any sign of tracks indicating which way she may have gone. "Storm! Center yourself right here." The tall goddess rushed to him, the center of the stillness following her, the rest of them making sure to stay near her until they saw what was happening. Stark began to scan what he thought the most likely direction – looking for vital signs. He felt sick when Logan corrected him.

"Don't look for a living person. Look for the metal." he said, his jaw set. Jean teared up when she realized that Logan never thought they'd find her breathing. He was looking for a corpse the whole time. Jubilee was numb as she watched him. There was no emotion there. This was a recovery effort.

"Hope isn't lost yet." Hank said reassuringly to Jubilee, squeezing her shoulder. She sucked it up, looking at the wall Storm had made of snow and wind, and putting her back to where the wind blew, she walked from where the jacket was. A few hundred yards from the jacket, she found K frozen to the ground, partially buried in a snow drift and half naked, curled up on herself, ice embedded in her eyelashes and hair, her overall hue nearly white. Jubilee screamed out for him as she brushed the snow from her. He ran, falling to his knees as the rest of the small search party caught up to him. Her eyes were closed and her arms crossed over her chest, her hands under her arms, curled up on her side, the wound clearly visible and looking crystalline where the edges of the flesh had frozen. Her ankles were crossed and her knees were as close to her chest as her breasts would allow. His hands were shaking as he brushed more snow from her waxy skin. He couldn't speak properly, just mouthing out 'no' over and over. He thought he'd prepared himself for the worst – but the reality of finding her like this was still worse than he'd imagined. As Logan began to come undone, Hank pushed past the rest of the shell shocked group, kneeling down behind her and crouching low, resting his ear on the icy cold skin of her back, his eyes closed. Stark started to speak only to be cut off by Hank's over concentrated stare and an open palm with his harsh response.

"HUSH." Hank nearly snarled, closing his eyes again and holding his breath. The group as a whole simply stared at each other as the seconds ticked on. Logan was beyond reach, tears falling of their own volition as he stared at her frozen form, taking note of the missing boot, her little foot blue and bare against the snow. "Get a stretcher. Now." Hank said quietly, his eyes looking frantic.

"Hank - "

"She's not dead until she's warm and dead. There's still a heartbeat." Hank said as he removed his thick coat, wrapping it around the half naked frozen woman. His eyes met Logan's, reaching over her body to give Logan a little squeeze on the arm. "I'll do all I can." He leaned in close, gently brushing the snow off her head.

"Don't die on me, sweetheart. Please don't die on me." he whispered low as they began to move her.

They couldn't believe it. No one could survive what this woman had gone through. She was frozen into position, snow drifted over her ... he was just going to be crushed all over again. And then he'd leave to lick his wounds from the now inevitable heartbreak. Jubilee was nauseous as they moved her. She was frozen stiff, Hank directing them to NOT attempt to move her limbs – her image even more eerie when she was rolled onto her back, her arms and legs still staying as they were moments before, even her hair remaining in postion.

Once she was loaded up in the jet, the rest of the team somberly watched Hank cut away the remainder of her clothes, being very careful to not rip off skin that was frozen to the fabric. When she was stripped down, and they were airborne, Hank called for Stark to scan the wound.

"Without my equipment, I can't begin to assess that wound. There must be something inside it or she would have healed before she froze." Hank told him low as Tony agreed speaking only to direct J.A.R.V.I.S. on what to do. The computerized voice broke the silence announcing that there was an eight inch long carbonadium blade lodged into place, surrounded by substantial damage that had affected her kidney, liver, diaphragm, and appeared to have nicked her heart as well. Hank looked grim, but nodded.

"I was hoping it wasn't that bad." he said quietly as he began to look for anything that may help her on board. "What's the nearest secure medical facility?" Hank asked looking to Tony, who ran the question past his computer system.

"There is a helicarrier halfway over the pacific. It happens to be the one that Fury is aboard." Tony said looking to Logan, who simply couldn't think clearly enough to make a decision - as if he felt there was one. It was nearest and she needed it. Hank turned to Logan, putting his arm around his shoulders.

"We don't have the things we need to warm her here. However, she needs to be warmed up immediately. Are you up for it?" Hank asked. It was a silly question, of course. Without another word, he pulled his uniform top off, Jubilee shocked that he was approaching her half naked.

"Be careful of the wound, Logan. I can't do a thing about the blade until she's thawed a bit. We'll know we can move forward when the blood starts to flow." He positioned himself behind her, spooning her tightly as Hank and Tony brought a few blankets and covered the couple on the floor of the jet. Logan shivered involuntarily as the cold radiated from her. By the time they reached the helicarrier, Logan was shivering violently, clutching to her, praying that what little he had in the realm of body heat would do anything for her. The medical team was waiting for them with a gurney and supplies, they nearly had to pull Logan off, his hands clenched into fists as he shook, his teeth chattering despite his best efforts to have a little composure. Fury himself draped a blanket over his shoulders as the medical team placed monitors on her.

"You know if she can be revived, we'll do it." Fury said, Logan's jaw locked as he nodded, ignoring him largely as he stuck to her side.

"No of-fense, Nick. B-but did you ever clean h-house?" Logan stuttered out as they walked to the medical bay.

"As a matter of fact, old man, I did. This particular boat is full of nothing but hand picked agents and operatives."

"Medical?"

"All are clear. Used Stark and your friend, Psylocke to check them all out. I can't say the same for the other outfits, but this one is clean." Fury assures him.

All motion in the medical bay ceased as the readings came up. The doctors are all stunned.

"What's the problem, docs – you never see a frozen person before?" Fury barks.

"Yes, we have sir...but … not this bad. At least Captain Rogers wasn't injured too." The blonde doc says, feverishly working to clean her wound, scanning to see the depth of her injuries.

"Then I guess you need to be better than you were with him. Do your best work, boys." Fury directs. "Logan, why don't you come with me. You need to warm up." Logan shook his head.

"No. I have to be here, with her. If she dies, I don't want her alone." He replied stubbornly.

"That's the wrong attitude, my friend. From all I read, she's every bit as tough as you, and in my experience dealin' with you? You'd be smart to warm up and be ready to take care of her."

"Thought you two didn't like each other." Logan said as he pulled on a sweatshirt. Fury chuckled.

"She doesn't like me. That doesn't mean I don't like her." Logan wouldn't relent.

"I need to be with her. I should have seen this comin'. I screwed up." Logan said as he tried to place the blame on himself.

"Well damn, I didn't know you were psychic too. You knew he was going to chuck her into a snowstorm and you didn't warn her?"

"No, I -"

"And you knew he was going to kidnap your kids and you didn't tell anyone?"

"No, damnit, I just mean -"

"You mean to blame yourself. Knock it off. I have a feelin' she'd slap the hell outta you if she heard you trying to take responsibility for Daken's twisted self."

"But I am responsible for him."

"No, you're not. He was stolen, twisted and turned into a sociopath without your knowledge or consent. Had you been there, you'd have kicked the boy's ass when he needed it." Fury said firmly. "Now I'm tired of you beatin' yourself up over shit you had no control over." Just then, an alarm went off on one of the devices on K, a doctor hastily rushing to turn it off as the non-medical people in the room stared at them.

"Just telling us her temp is still dropping. Sorry. The alarm is off now." The shaky nurse said as Logan leveled his glare at her.

"You're warming her up – why is she getting colder?" Logan demanded, Fury stepping forward, his hand on Logan's chest.

"Part of the rewarming process. It's complicated, but normal." the nurse replied.

"Let them do their job. You scarin' the hell out of them isn't going to heat her up any faster." Fury said, trying to direct Logan elsewhere. That frightened nurse watched him a moment as he continued to shiver. Biting her lip, she stepped away from K, pulling out some monitors and cautiously strode up to Logan.

"I think I need to get your vitals, sir." she said, an audible shake to her voice.

"Like hell. Take care of my wife." Logan snarled.

"No, sir, you don't understand. We're going to have to clear the room, you'll have to leave – unless, that is, you're a patient." she finished, holding up the leads and looking nervously between he and Fury. Logan thought it over a moment and finally nodded once as Fury smirked.

"Nice job, Lieutenant. Found a way around protocol. Though truth be told, I wasn't going to kick him out." Fury said, turning to Logan. "Let me show you to your bed, old man." Logan let out a little soundless laugh to himself as he watched Fury pull a gurney up very near to K, so he could stay close without being in the way.

"I'm sorry sir, but it will be a while before we know if she'd had any progress." the nurse said as she put the leads on Logan's chest.

He leaned back as he watched them arrange heated warming blankets around her curled up form, several nurses trying to get heated saline IV's and set up the very aggressive looking bypass machine meant to heat her blood up slowly while her pulse showed non-existent on the monitors. He felt sick as he watched the team pull themselves together to remove the blade in K's side. No one knew if she'd make it, even with her healing factor in fine working order, this nonsense with the carbonadium was not something he was optimistic about.


	12. Warming up

The remainder of the team were quickly ushered out of the med bay shortly after her heart began to beat – it hadn't shown on the monitors yet when the bleeding suddenly started. One minute it was just starting to thaw, and suddenly she was bleeding out. They rushed in to do a very quick field-style surgery, ignoring the need for antiseptic procedures as per Fury's warning earlier to 'just get the damn thing out and stop the bleeding long enough for her to fix it herself'. Logan couldn't stop himself from doing anything but just staring at her, feeling positively guilty as his eyes drifted across her frostbitten face and ears while a medic tapped his arm for blood to give her.

Within an hour of removing the blade, and cleaning the wound, the team of doctors was able to straighten out her limbs and consistently find a heart beat, albeit a very unsteady one - jumping from very slow to extremely fast. He was sick when he saw the damage to her hands, as he knew she had more damage than he could see. Her frozen foot kept popping to mind. It was very touch and go, and not long after her heart began to do it's job, they had to put her on a respirator. The doctor in charge turned to Logan after the respirator went on.

"She's doing remarkably well, even if it doesn't look like it. There is still a good chance. I have worked on many people in very similar circumstances." The doctor said.

"Were they stabbed through the liver and kidney too?" Logan growled out.

"No. But they also didn't have healing abilities. Her files say she's a remarkably quick healer." he replied, turning back to the little woman on the table next to him as Logan stared holes in the back of the doc's head. If looks could kill. The slow warming process the doctor was using was a sound process, and within another hour, K's eyes scrinched down tighter, and her heart rate jumped showing clearly that she was in pain as she started to revive. The doctor breathed a sigh of relief as Logan sat up ready to go to her side.

"Welcome back." the doctor says, switching off the light over her head. "Miss, can you hear me? My name is Dr. Lillegard. You're on a SHIELD Helicarrier over the Pacific ocean. You nearly froze solid out there." Dr. Lillegard told her as she kept her eyes shut tightly. "Your husband here has been climbing the walls. I think you scared him half to death." the doctor nodded to Logan who slipped to her side, gently resting his hand on hers – which was covered in large watery blisters where it hadn't turned black – a side effect of her skin freezing, and a sure sign that she would be kicking into gear with the healing soon. He leaned over kissing her temple as tears began to leak down her face, on their own accord.

"Can you move, sweetheart?" he asked her gently, relief clear in his voice. She concentrated hard, trying to focus on simply moving her head to no avail, still not breathing on her own, the tubes making her look positively pitiful.

"She may be paralyzed for a while." Dr. Lillegard says "It's fairly common when they come in as cold as she was. For a normal person, it might take months to recover. No telling how it will go for her." Logan nodded as he watched her unmoving form. Fury came back into the medical bay with the X-Men that had remained, not long after K woke up.

"How she doin'?" he asked. K had drifted back to sleep, unable to do much else as her healing abilities went into overdrive. The team situated themselves around the room, anxious to hear how their friend was faring.

"Paralyzed, apparently. Have to wait an' see if she pulls outta this." Logan replied, his voice weary. Fury nodded.

"She'll be fine. She's alive – that's all she needs to fix herself up." he said. Nearly on cue, K's stats began to jump like hell all over the monitors. She looked as if she were choking, unable to sit up or move her head or signal for help as she shook, nearly convulsing. Dr. Lillegard rushed in, his hands on her shoulders trying to calm her before pulling the ventilator off, explaining to her to calm down so he could help her breathe before he removed the tube. She finally gave him a stiff nod as her wide eyes watered, staring at him as he counted her down and quickly pulled out the tube, K coughing violently, her body shaking after it was removed.

"You do heal quickly. The last woman that was in your position took ten days to wake up and was on a respirator for over a month. Catch your breath, miss. You still need to relax." he told her. K nodded minutely as the tall blonde rolled her to her side, assessing the wound. "Look at that. Like it never happened." the doc said with a smile. "Amazing." Logan really didn't like the way the man was looking at his wife, a growl escaping his lips before he could even register it was there. Lillegard looked taken back as he re-covered K, now examining her flawless hands – the blisters and blackness gone with no sign they ever existed outside of the blackened flesh now lying on the white sheets. "Can you move now?" K picked up her head and tried to wiggle her hand – nothing from her hand or foot.

"Bring her food." Logan said suddenly. "She'll heal faster if you feed her." K turned her head toward him, smiling.

"My love." she whispered with a grin, her eyes barely open, making him smirk as her head fell back into the pillow. "How did you find me?"

"Dumb luck, darlin'. Jubilee found your coat." Logan said as he stroked her hair.

"Why did you take off your coat anyhow?" Jubilee asked as she sat down on the other side of K's bed. K looked confused. She couldn't remember doing anything of the sort.

"Paradoxical undressing." Lillegard cut in. "Very very common in hypothermia victims. They feel as if they're burning up, so they remove their clothes. She may not ever remember it." Logan cupped her face as she leaned into his hand. Suddenly she was wondering about the little ones, but before she could ask, he answered her question.

"They're home. Kitty and Pete have it under control." Logan said. The room froze. Fury's eyes locked on the two of them as K leaned back into the pillow after mouthing a 'thank you, love'

"What was that?" Fury asked as Logan turned to address him.

"What?" Logan said, half defensively.

"That." Fury said gesturing to the two of them, his eye wide as he stared at Logan in disbelief.

"She wanted to know where the kids were." Logan replied, his brow furrowed. Fury's eyebrows popped up further as he stared at him. Jean spoke up suddenly.

"It was a fair question." Jean said as Fury turned to her.

"Only she didn't _say_ anything. Is this new?" he asked. Suddenly Jean realized that K and Logan had just communicated telepathically.

"Oh my god." she said as K crinkled her forehead. "Logan, what is she thinking right now?" Logan looked at her a moment before answering.

"Nothin' to be discussed in mixed company." he said. K smiled to herself.

"Your bond has gotten to a higher level. It's a rapport now. This is what Charles was trying to help you do!" Jean said grinning. "I'd just like to know why she had to nearly die for that to happen."

"I wasn't that bad was I? Just a little cold." K said sleepily, her eyes still not wanting to remain open.

"Yes, you were. You were damn near as frozen as Cap was." Fury said, a look of concern on his face. Logan chuckled and Fury gave him a quizzical look.

"She's too tired to tell you what she's thinkin' but it's smart assed, 'Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD'." Logan said, an amused tone to his voice.

"I look forward to hearin' it later, Mrs. Howlett." Fury replied. "Logan, you think you can take a minute and chat with me now?" He looked at her a moment before kissing her tenderly and testing out their new form of communication. _Be right back, darlin'. Don't go runnin off now. _ He thought toward her.

"I'll try not to." K replied, her eyes closed as she began to drift off. He smiled and kissed her forehead again as he turned away from her.

"Jeannie, you stickin' around here?" Logan asked her.

"Yes, I think I should. Go ahead. Jubilee and I will stay with her." Jean reassured him. Scott left with Logan and Fury, feeling a bit at odds with nothing to do as Hank and Dr. Lillegard discussed K's condition.

…...

"I'm not going to say anything to anyone about your new little connection with your wife." Fury said after the room cleared.

"That's good to know seein' as it' ain't your damn business anyhow." Logan growled out.

"Actually, it _is_ my business to know everyone's limitations and secrets. I just think this one could bite you in the ass more if the wrong people find out about it. They're already after your asses as it is for being bonded. What do you think this would do?" Fury asked. Logan didn't know where to go with it. "I swear, it's like you keep finding new ways to draw people after you. You're a damn attention whore is what you are." Scott snickered. "Now _I _was thinking that no one should know that she received care here. Far as I'm concerned, we should write her down as dead. Maybe it'll keep the bad guys off your tail for a while."

"That's great, Fury, but what about Lillegard and his crew? Are they trustworthy enough to keep their mouths shut?" Scott asked. Fury's mouth drew tight as he considered it.

"Won't be an issue. We'll scrub their memories of it." he replied. "But right now, we have to get you and your group back to Westchester. Unless, you want to go somewhere else, Logan."

"No, we need to go back, regroup, figure out where K and I can take the kids away from all this, and if it's all the same to you, I'd rather SHIELD wasn't sure where we were." Logan replied. When the three men returned to the med bay, K was soundly asleep with Thor watching over her. Logan sat down next to her, rubbing the bridge of his nose when K mumbled something in her sleep. It would be a few hours before she woke again, Logan keeping watch over her as she healed up, not trusting the doctors, no matter what Fury had said. He was particularly concerned over Lillegard. He seemed interested in her in the same manner that experimental scientists were interested in her. Reveling in watching her shake off her injuries. He wouldn't leave her until Jean promised to keep watch so he could get a drink – hot coffee at Fury's suggestion. When he returned, he was glad to see she'd finally woken up, though surprised to find K and Dr. Lillegard were conversing rapidly in Swedish with Thor throwing in his two cents from time to time as he sat at the foot of her bed, the three of them seeming to be having a great time. The rest of the team were watching them like a tennis match as they discussed …. whatever it was they were discussing. Logan was catching bits and pieces – but only that which translated closely to German.

"You speak Swedish?" Fury asked as K turned toward them.

"Of course." K said as Lillegard grinned at her.

"It's very close to what your people used to speak when my father rid this realm of frost giants." Thor said as K threw the covers back, Lillegard scolding her as she grabbed his arm for support.

"You have to heal more. Please, sit back. The nerves are not repaired yet." Lillegard told her.

"Vara tyst. You know nothing about what I need to do." K snapped as she slipped off the bed, Logan stepping forward to hold onto her. When her feet hit the ground she shivered. "Jesus it's cold in here."

"Sweetheart, it's plenty warm, you're just not thawed out enough yet." Logan told her as he stepped in close to her.

"Maybe you need to warm me up?" K teased before letting go of the doc in favor of her beloved. When she put her weight on her legs, they buckled, Logan catching her before she could hit the floor, a smirk on his face as she held onto him.

"Well this is familiar." he said with a cocky grin. She blushed as the images flashed in her head from how he'd helped her like this before – in Hank's lab very shortly after they'd met, walking with him to the woods, searing kisses in the aforementioned woods and an evening that took a very heated naked turn. Without thinking about it she leaned in for a steamy kiss to the embarrassment of nearly everyone around them as the memories flooded her mind.

"Ever my hero." she purred as he held her tightly. "Always pullin' me out of trouble. Must be exhausting."

"Almost as exhausting as it is for you getting into trouble." he replied.

"Are you two going to need a room or can you just load up and go?" Fury asked, his hands on his hips.

"Are you sure you don't want a dissertation on what happened?" K drawled out to him as she tried to regain some balance.

"No. As far as I'm concerned, you were never here. Isn't that right, Doc?" Fury replied.

"Absolutely. There's no record of you being here, though it was a pleasure to meet you, my dear." Lillegard smiled kindly.

"And since you were never here, it's time to get you out." Fury said with a finality, K still not trusting him entirely. "You're fueled up and ready to go, as long as the good doctor here is willing to release you."

"Seeing as she will have a doctor on board, keeping her here would be selfish." Lillegard said quietly. Logan bristled as the tall blonde smiled at her. "I hope we don't have to meet again soon, miss."

"Likewise." K replied as Logan's hand rested on her hip possessively.

"I look forward to chatting with you again soon, K. We have much more to discuss." Thor told her. Logan watched her a moment, his anger rising a bit when K blushed slightly before nodding to him, a little quickening in her pulse bringing out some jealousy in him, even as she kissed his cheek.

"I love you." she whispered in his ear, dissipating some of his anger. He still didn't like the idea of Thor spending time with her – certainly not alone.


	13. Removing the Comfort Zone

The flight back to the Institute was uneventful aside from K starting to shiver uncontrollably once they were airborne. Logan didn't bother to ask if she was alright before pulling her onto his lap on the floor and wrapping blankets around the both of them. It took over an hour for her to warm up enough to relax.

"My best guess would be that the adamantium is still a bit cold." Hank said when K's teeth quit chattering. She was incredibly sore just from shivering. When they finally made it back home, Kitty and Charles met them with the little ones. They got themselves settled in, Logan actually laughing at them when he couldn't get them to just go to bed. Instead, they insisted on joining their parents. K didn't mind one bit, tickled as she snuggled up with them between Logan and herself, all of them covered up and cozied. K had the blanket pulled up to her ears, Rose nearest to her with her hand on K's cheek as she slept. K was still smiling as she got comfortable, Logan watching her and enjoying seeing her with their children, even with James yanking on his sideburns. When the little ones were soundly asleep, he carefully picked each one up and put them to bed before climbing back in with his wife, nipping at her neck as his hands drifted across her body. He knew she needed to sleep, but he wanted her attention. Sleepily, she rolled in his arms to face him, sliding her hand onto his neck as he kissed her. They hadn't done more than kiss when he pulled back and rested their foreheads together, breathing heavily.

"Sorry, I know I probably oughta slow down, babe." he growled out low, rolling onto his back. She blinked hard a few times as she watched him before sitting up and pulling off her tank top.

"Why?"

"You damn near died, sweetheart. Take a break."

"But that's exactly why I don't want a break. C'mon. Don't make me beg." She argued, smirking at him as she wondered if he'd make her go that far. He sighed, still reluctant until he heard her in his head. _Please. _It was as simple as that as she finished stripping and started to undo her braids, her long wavy dark hair falling delicately over her shoulders before she started crawling up him, kissing her way up his body until she could look him in the eyes. "Please." The way she made it sound was like her whole reason for being hinged on his response.

"How can I say no when you ask so nice?" he rumbled, closing the gap as he wrapped his arms around her.

…...

For the first few weeks back, anytime she'd get a chill it would take her hours to warm up. There wasn't enough hot coffee or tea in the western hemisphere to heat her up when she got cold, the only real remedy being a scorching hot shower and wrapping herself in Logan, not that he was complaining. Initially, seeing her shiver made his stomach clench as he remembered her violent shaking on the jet home, but by the time it began to ebb, he almost looked forward to seeing her scrunched up on herself as she rushed across the lawn to him, trying to make herself smaller as she hurried, slipping her arms around him and snuggling into his chest for warmth. Once she was warm, she always made a point of thanking him thoroughly. She was cuddling James, having tea with Charles when Scott came in asking her to join him on a quick pick up.

"Ah – isn't Logan back yet?" K asked, Charles suddenly realizing that she hadn't done one mission since her return nearly six weeks ago.

"No, he's still with the Avengers. Come on, we have to rush this one." he said, stepping toward the door.

"I can't." K said quietly. Scott turned around slowly.

"Why not?"

"I just - can't."

"Quit screwing around and suit up."

"Scott, maybe you should get Laura." Charles said evenly. Scott looked irritated as he turned around and stalked off.

"K, what's wrong?" Charles asked gently when Scott was clearly gone. K didn't answer, just held James a bit tighter as he patted her shoulder with his tiny hand, Rose joyfully playing with Kitty's son and Abbey drawing in the corner. "I see. Daken got to you and now you don't want to leave the little ones."

"They're just so small. I've been reckless." she replied finally. "I _know_ I came close when I froze. I don't want to miss them growing up."

"Does Logan know how you feel?"

"I think so. He's never wanted me going on missions anyhow." K replied. Charles considered her viewpoint. It certainly wasn't unusual for the X-Men to run through team members. It was easy to get burnt out on a thankless job that earned you psychotic obsessive enemies that had no hobbies other than making you miserable. He thought he should have expected it sooner seeing as being married to Logan carried a certain risk of it's own attributed to the large number of enemies he'd racked up over the years intent on hurting him and anyone he loved. It wasn't long before K took her little ones back to the boat house for their naps. She was trying very hard to be a good mother, and acting less like herself the more she threw herself into it. Logan had noticed her changes, thinking at first it was a temporary thing. When it became apparent it wasn't he realized he needed to take the bull by the horns.

"C'mon, sweetheart. You got a danger room session in ten minutes." Logan said firmly, tossing a uniform at her.

"No, I don't." K replied throwing it back to him.

"Yes, you do. You've been actin' off since you thawed out. Time to get back on the horse, woman." he growled out, throwing it back to her again with a little more force. "Now get your ass dressed or I'll drag you down there in your jeans."

"I don't _want_ to train." K argued, throwing the uniform to the floor. "You don't need me to do that shit. Hell, you never even wanted me to. You only trained me so I could fight Creed."

"Well, that's not enough now. I should have seen it sooner. I got more nasty bad boys out there wantin' to do the downtown stomp on me than I can count. Gettin' you prepped to take on one of em' ain't gonna cut it. You need to be ready for all of 'em, cuz any one of em would be more'n happy to tear you up for kicks." Kitty and Jean were watching the discussion like a tennis match. K looked away from Logan for a moment to the little ones. The twins were currently sleeping and Abbey had rushed to her father, still in love with the stripes on his uniform, and choosing that particular moment to hold his face still so she could carefully give him a kiss, her tiny hands resting on his cheeks as she leaned forward, all puckered up. Abbey then threw herself forward, her arms across his shoulders, patting him as she gave him her version of a hug, humming to herself as she did so. Making her parents kiss was still something she liked to do often, slapping either of them if they didn't kiss quickly enough.

"Go on. I'm waitin'." he growled as Abbey continued to cuddle him. K huffed as she stomped into their bedroom, reappearing what seemed far to quickly. When they got up to the danger room, he went in with her to coach, Scott handling the controls on the board at Logan's instruction. He started her rough, diving right into the heart of her issues as he set Daken loose on her. He didn't expect her to do well, but she did, her anger driving her as she fought him. It seemed that her speed was finally coming back to her, she was just as quick now as she was before she got her adamantium, easily matching Daken now. Scott was confused after she'd fought him for the third time, that she didn't take a kill shot - Scott under the impression that a kill shot might be the only thing to handle him.

"Why isn't she putting him down?" he asked Logan as he entered the booth, pleased with K's work so far.

"She doesn't wanna kill my son." Logan said, having heard her intentions to put him down but not out.

"Darlin', you may have to get more aggressive with him down the line." Logan told her over the intercom as Daken lay unconscious in a heap a few feet away from her.

"No." she growled out. "Who's next." the words barely left her lips when Daken's form was replaced with a screaming Lady Deathstrike. Her approach to K was a different world to Daken's and K easily avoided her, dancing right through her outstretched fingers, cutting off bits of the cyborg monster as she went, taking a hit now and again as they tangled, but before long, she too was in a state of disrepair. Before K could turn to question them, Daken appeared with Viper, and a warning from Scott that although it was a simulation, the poisons that Viper carried were not. She dodged the darts, but found herself at the business end of Daken's claws. As soon as she was stationary, Viper had her by the neck with her bullwhip before the simulation was ended. Logan called it a day as K caught her breath.

Every day they pushed her into more training she dragged her feet only to prove herself in spectacular fashion. She was getting some confidence back, battling some of the worst bad guys the two of them could think of - Cyber was a particular nasty case that she had trouble with, but all seemed back to a good pace once she'd worked past him. Omega Red was another one that took her off guard. K was starting to get into it until Scott sent a sim of Logan after her. She avoided him, not wanting to fight him as the simulation slashed at her ruthlessly. She had little hope of avoiding him forever, and she flat refused to harm him.

"Gotta do it, K. Take him down." Scott urged. She glared at the booth just long enough for the simulation to slash her across the face, splitting her cheek wide open and missing her eye by millimeters, her metal coated cheek bone shining up through the blood before it stitched itself closed. He was stunned when K finally took his advice going on the offense in a big way, her ferocity forcing the simulation backward as they battled. Logan wasn't paying as close attention now, thinking that she was now on to Daken, seeing as that was what he and Scott had agreed to earlier.

"Logan." Scott said as he rose slowly for a better view. Distractedly, Logan looked over into the room, surprised thoroughly by his little wife, who looked to be a swipe or two from taking the simulation down, the computer simulated Wolverine fighting her as viciously as if she were one of his worst enemies, her tears visible from the booth as she fought with him.


	14. Drawing Lines

"What the hell, Summers? You can't have her fighting me – you have any idea what kinda screw job you're doin' to her?" Logan growled out, reaching in front of Scott to hit the kill switch. It was over before he could end it, her robot Wolverine being cut right down the middle and falling away in pieces. When the sim cleared K had tears flowing down her face, though rage wasn't strong enough an emotion to describe her expression. Scott knew she was upset with him, but had underestimated how much until when he walked into the room she slapped him hard across the face.

"Don't you _dare_ do that to me again." She snarled, bashing into his shoulder as she rushed past him, a perfect red hand print practically glowing on his face from how hard she'd hit him. He knew he'd crossed the line, but in his mind, he had to know that she'd be able to stop him if necessary. Scott turned meaning to go after her finding Logan blocking her path.

"What the fuck are you tryin' ta do, Scooter?" Logan growled. "You shouldn't have done that to her. You _know_ how bad she's had it already. You tryin' to drive her crazy makin' her fight me? Or are ya just tryin' to make her leave?"

"No, I – she needs to be able to stop you if you lose it, Logan. It wouldn't be the first time you'd turned on your team – or her." Scott said, trying to explain himself, earning instead Logan taking a swing at him, breaking his nose and knocking him on his ass before he turned to go after her. Unfortunately, Scott didn't think he'd done anything wrong, and Logan's punch was enough to piss him off as well. Before he could turn the corner, Scott blasted him, knocking Logan into the wall on the opposite side of the hallway. He hit mid way up the wall, and slid down it in a pile. Now both men were on the ground trying to pull their heads together. Scott realized how badly he'd screwed up as Logan got to his feet. He put a hand up in front of himself trying to slow Logan down, but the switch had been flipped and Logan was more than willing to kick off this long over due brouhaha. Scott knew he couldn't keep up with him if he went bare knuckle, even if Logan didn't totally lose it and pop a claw or three. A few solid hits from his adamantium weighted fists would have him in the hospital, while landing a solid hit on the furious Canadian would likely result in a broken hand. He dodged out of Logan's path by the skin of his teeth – literally, Logan's fist barely grazing Scott's mouth as he twisted away. When Logan spun back to him Scott blasted him into the wall again, Logan roaring in frustration as his claws flew, trying to find something to give him some purchase as Scott shouted out to him, trying to get him to calm down as he apologized.

"Logan you have to stop! Scott shouted as he came at him again, completely enraged. Scott braced himself ready to blast him again when suddenly neither could move, Logan frozen in mid air, his claws inches from Scott's face, Scott's hand on his visor.

"What is _wrong _with you two?!" Jean shouted at them both. "I thought you'd gotten over this bullshit! What is it now?" She was exasperated with the situation, Mentally chastizing Scott for his thoughtlessness after she peeked into his mind to find his side first. Of course, Logan wasn't exactly in the right either – his temper ruling over his judgement. "Logan – go find your wife. She probably needs to see _you_ right now. I'll have a word with my husband." She gently floated him backwards a good stretch before letting his feet touch the ground, ready to stop him quickly should he continue his rush for Scott. She thought she'd need to for a moment when he continued running once she released him.

"Logan -" she warned as he ran straight past her out the door, retracting his claws as he neared her.

"Sorry Jeannie. Lost my temper." he growled as he ran, sniffing out K. He could feel how outraged she was, trying to distance herself from Scott before she hurt him – and boy did she ever want to hurt him. He had started to worry, she was hard to track today, her trail disappearing from time to time making him stop and circle out from where it ended until he found her trail again. It was a solid thirty feet between where the trail went cold and where it picked up again. She couldn't be jumping that far. What the hell? He could feel her emotions, keeping his worry in check, but her missing scent trail for such long stretches had him concerned. How did she do it? Then, far off from him deep in the forest he saw a flash of movement. Looking toward it he saw her arc through the air. Instead of trying to follow her trail, he ran to where he'd seen her, looking to pick it up there, again having to circle out until he found it, looking up now as he tracked down the scent, ignoring the footprints and broken branches this time. When he saw her again, he grinned. Yeah, she'd be a real pain in the ass to track if she flat didn't want to be found. He got to watch the whole process. She was running, then she'd put on a sudden burst of speed when she saw a lower hanging branch, jumping toward it and using her momentum to launch herself in a high arc, landing a solid thirty feet from where her feet left the ground.

"K!" Logan shouted, and she stumbled a hair, turning to look at him, the tear tracks long dried. She turned toward him, her shoulders dropping a hair as they walked to each other, K catching her breath.

"You alright, darlin'?" he asked, taking her hands in his. She nodded, looking down. "He wasn't supposed to do that. It was supposed to be Daken. I don't know what the hell he was tryin' ta pull. I'm sorry." She shook her head and wrapped her arms around him, giving him a kiss.

"He had his reasons, I'm sure. They were dick reasons, but he had his reasons." she said. "I think I'm alright to just yell at him now without kicking his ass." K replied. He didn't mention her little branch swinging trick, wondering to himself how far she could go. When they got up to the mansion, Scott was nursing his busted nose with an ice pack after Hank had bandaged him up, two black eyes blooming full fantastic color even beyond his visor. K wrinkled her nose as she took in his appearance.

"The hell?" she murmered.

"Your husband didn't like the sim either. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that with no warning." Scott said with a mumble, his lip swelling.

"Well, since my beloved has already worked you over, that's one thing I don't have to do right now. Has anyone ever set you against Jean, telling you to kill her?" K asked bluntly, absolutely no warm up to her ass chewing.

"Well, no." Scott replied, Jean shooting him a dirty look as she crossed her arms.

"Do you do that to everyone here? Make them fight the person they love?" K asked, her eyes flashing, clearly she was still entertaining thoughts of harming him.

"No, but Logan -"

"Isn't going to hurt me. Just like Jean wouldn't hurt you, or vice versa. NO one here would intentionally go after their better half without someone _forcing_ them to do it, so why, Scott? Do you distrust him that much or are you just that much of a dick? Because, I was defending you until now." K told him, her voice shaking ever so slightly at the end. Jean's face softened. She hadn't realized that K and Scott had actually become friends. She glared at her husband now, realizing, even if Scott hadn't yet that this wasn't just a shock to her system having to fight her husband, but a breach of trust that she had with Scott. She'd trusted him to not screw with her mind, and he blew it.

"I just didn't want you unprepared if he was forced to come at you." Scott admitted quietly. "I don't want to see him hurt you."

"Well hot damn, Einstein – he cuts me, I'll cut him back. Jesus, Scott." K shot back, tired. "Have you made him fight a fake me?" The room was silent.

"No. Of course not."

"Why? Are you under some delusion that I'm all innocent and sweet? Ask Kitty how innocent and sweet I am. Ask her about the road block. Hell, you saw me fight with Creed – you think that is a special talent just for him? Get real." K huffed. Logan slid his hand from her hip across her stomach, pulling her closer to him as she got it all off her chest. She looked at Logan over her shoulder before the two decided to leave, leaving Scott in the lurch and feeling like garbage.

…...

Kitty looked anxious when the two of them returned finally, K looking a mess, blood down the side of her uniform that was slashed in places, leaves in her hair and dirt on her face. Logan's uniform missing sections from when Scott blasted him.

"Is everyone alright?" Kitty asked as K leaned on Logan for balance as she removed her boots.

"Yeah. Peachy keen." K growled out. Kitty looked to Logan who nodded then she picked up Michael and said she'd meet them at dinner before leaving. The kids were napping, K saw when she walked past their room, turning into Logan who she didn't realize was right behind her. He didn't say a word, but began pushing her backward into their room, kissing and stripping her as he pushed her back. She pulled her head away from him long enough to tell him she needed a shower. He let her go, waiting just a few beats before removing what he had left on and following her, slipping behind her when she had her face tipped into the water, slipping his hand over her mouth as he pulled her to him – not wanting to wake the little ones.

…...

When Logan suggested they not go up to the house unless necessary, K let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, relaxing into his arms. Though she'd spoken her peace, she was hurt at Scott's insensitivity and simply didn't want to look at him. He wasn't sure if she needed more training time, but he was sure she needed a rest from it. She'd pushed hard, and proven to him that she could handle any one of the worst that wanted a piece of his hide. No one questioned them for nearly a week, when finally Jubilee and the sisters came down to visit.

"Hey Jubes. Haven't seen you in a while." Logan drawled out as K sat down next to him again, draping his arm around her and holding her closely.

"Well, yeah. You guys haven't been coming up in a while. What's up? Are you thinking of leaving?" Jubilee asked, worry on her face.

"It crossed my mind." Logan admitted. The girls looked panicked.

"You can't do that – we need you here!" Chloe blurted out.

"I didn't say for sure. I said it crossed my mind. Damn kids." Logan grumbled. The truth was, the more he was just with K and the little ones, the more he relaxed. It was a simple way to live. Do what you have to and spend the rest of your time with the people that loved you most. It was just what Logan had wanted for years.

"Did you _really_ go all grumpy old man on me?" Jubilee asked, eyebrows invading her hairline. He just glared at her.

"Don't push your luck, Jubes." he growled back. Well, it _was_ nice and quiet, until now.

"Will you _puh-lease_ come up for dinner tonight? _Please?" _ she asked. The sisters next to her were mirroring her actions. Logan looked at his wife who smirked as she leaned up and kissed him chastely.

"Your call, love." K said quietly. She cherished the time when it was just the two of them, but she knew that they couldn't really leave. The kids had gotten attached to their extended family and if nothing else, she didn't want to take that away from them. They had a moment where they seemed to simply stare at each other, a smirk on Logan's face as he heard her line of thinking before he nodded in complete agreement. The sisters offered to each carry one of the twins. Zoe was in love with James, and Chloe couldn't get enough of Rose. Abbey took a rare opportunity and had her parents swing her between them, giggling all the way up. As soon as they were through the door, Scott was there to greet them, apologizing profusely.

"Jean made me see how stupid I was, I'm sorry K. Please forgive me." He said as Abbey scurried off to find Charles.

"How did she explain it?" K asked. Scott looked at the ground before Jean answered for him.

"I made him kill me in a simulation. Suddenly that training exercise isn't such a great idea, right, sweetheart?" Jean said, glaring at him a little. "He's still having nightmares about it." Scott looked sheepish as he met K's eyes again.

"I really didn't think that through. That was a dick move." Scott said. Logan smirked. This had to be a landmark, Scott admitting one of his sessions was too rough. K looked to her husband then took a quick step toward Scott nodding. Scott broke into a grin as he picked her up in a hug. Jean wasn't lying. He'd had nightmares about having to kill Jean since she'd made him do it, and he knew K and Logan didn't need any extra horrors added to their respective nightmare collections. Scott insisted on walking K to dinner with the group, Jean reaching out for Logan to escort her. For now, all was well. K had forgiven Scott, though she cautioned him to think things through more. His tactical moves were incredible, but emotional ones, well, he needed work.


	15. North Woods Respite

K and Scott didn't really see eye to eye again for months. When he stepped in and tried to 'help' with her riding classes it was the last straw. She slipped off the horse handing him the reins and announcing to the class that Scott would be finishing it. They watched her walk off, right toward the boat house. When she got inside, Logan was there with the little ones, stunned at her irritated expression as she went right into their bedroom and started packing. He watched to see what she was doing as she took a bag into the kids' room and started making noise in there, packing up some of their things and hauling both bags out to his jeep. When she got back inside, he finally stopped her.

"Sweetheart, what're you up to?" he asked.

"We're leaving. At least a week, I was thinking the cottage, but if you'd rather - "

"No, that sounds great. Been a while." Logan interrupted her. "I'll go tell Charlie." She nodded, staring at the ground as she took a breath. She didn't expect him to go along with it so easily.

…...

It was dark out when they got to the cottage, and the spring weather had the two track practically to mud bogging levels, the little ones laughing so hard at the flying mud outside that K had tears going down her face as she laughed with them. Even Logan couldn't ignore it when they laughed like that. The trail was rough, and when they got to the cottage, there were downed branches blocking their path to the front door.

"Looks like Bill finally listened to ya and quit tending it all winter." Logan said as she parked the jeep.

"Yeah. I told him to stick to his family and forget about the cottage. Told him I'd handle it from here on out." she replied, shocking him. He didn't know she'd told him to back off. It showed too, how much Bill had been doing around the place. He must have spent hours puttering around there when she was gone. They got the kids inside and K checked it over for any problems other than the railing on the front porch that a porcupine had decided to gnaw on, finding no broken windows or leaks, no sign of anyone tampering with the old place, the water wheel squeaking happily as it turned. The kids were worn out and hungry, as K quickly pulled together something for them to eat while Logan set up their place to sleep and started a fire. It was a little too cold in there for his liking where the little ones were concerned. By the time they'd finished eating they were falling asleep. Logan put them to bed before turning his attention to K and dragging her to their bed, freely tearing her clothes from her.

"Logan, wait." she whispered as he stepped back just long enough to disrobe himself.

"What for – time is of the essence, darlin'." He growled out. He'd been far more aggressive with her since she'd told off Scott, and destroyed the robot version of himself. As had been the norm as of late, that was all the break she got before he got down to business, kissing away her protests.

…...

When K woke up the next morning, she could hear Logan in the kitchen and the little ones giggling as they played. She pulled the flannel sheets up across her naked body, searching for something to slip on. Her clothes from the day before were shredded and she knew she only had a change or two in her old dresser if she was lucky. She slipped out of bed, the sheet wrapped around her as she looked in the dresser. Crud. Mice had gotten into the dresser and made a nest of her shirts. The jeans were still good, but there was no undergarments in the place anymore. She decided to go for the bags that were in the living room, so she slipped on his discarded flannel shirt, checking the mirror to be sure that it covered her backside properly before going to retrieve her own clothes.

"What are you doin' up? Maybe I'm not done with you. Get back in bed." he said over his shoulder.

"What about the kids?" K asked as he took the bag with their clothes from her.

"I didn't say it was sex, I just said I wasn't done yet. Go. Get to bed, woman." he repeated, pushing her back towards the room with his hand at the small of her back. She looked over her shoulder at him, but did as he asked, leaving his shirt on as she climbed into bed, sinking into his pillow and pulling the blanket up around her. She had to admit it felt good to be in her own bed finally. His scent in her house was intoxicating. She happily began to drift off when he came in with breakfast for her. She smiled sleepily as he set it up, kissing her as he handed her some coffee.

"Seems to me you're long overdue for gettin spoiled." he explained. "So rest up, and when you're really ready to face the day, I'm gonna go fire up that chainsaw an clean up a bit for ya." She was at a loss for words. She didn't know what to expect when they got up there, but whatever she expected, it sure wasn't this. Within an hour, she'd leisurely gotten out of bed and dressed, finding that not only had he taken care of feeding the little ones, but he'd cleaned up too. Abbey was at the window watching the water fall off the wheel, mesmerized. When K stepped out, Logan pulled her into a kiss before putting on his hat and getting to work outside.

He liked it there. It was quiet, peaceful, and picturesque. He made short work of the tree limb, going so far as to split and stack it at the wood pile before making his way around the place, cleaning up more limbs that were ready to fall. The only thing he didn't like about it was pulling up right then down the mud soaked trail. Bill.

_Goddamnit._ Logan thought to himself. Fucking neighbors. This was why he preferred his place. No one ever bothered him there. Of course, his place was a solid two days hike from an outpost designated only for the local native american tribes. No chance of running into someone or having them pester you out there. On the other hand, her place was about as far from civilization as you could get in this part of the country.

The big truck rolled to a stop as Logan set down the chainsaw in the little garage K had near the house. The tall Finn stepped out trying to look friendly.

"Glad to see you two still know where the place is. She around?" Bill asked.

"Yep, inside. I'll go with ya." Logan replied, still not trusting the bigger man alone with his wife, particularly since it came out that Bill's wife, Clara, had tipped off her big brother Sabretooth on how to get to K. She'd heard the truck come in and had gone to her closet and put her old 1911 on her hip, making sure the magazine was full and there was a round in the chamber, covering the gun with one of Logan's big flannel shirts. When it came to Clara and Bill, K's patience was now paper thin. Though she hoped Clara didn't know it at the time, she'd been instrumental in the most damaging abuse Creed had ever handed K and she sure as hell wasn't ready to forgive or forget. When Logan walked in the door, he wrinkled his nose at the smell of gun oil when he gave his wife a kiss. He tried to determine where it was coming from, not seeing it until he ran his hand from her ribcage to her hip, smiling at her when he found her piece. At least she had a healthy distrust of the man now. Enough to put a gun on even when both she and her husband were more than armed to deal with the likes of him. To Logan, that meant she didn't want to give him the chance to get close enough to touch her. Good.

"Hi, Bill." K said evenly, trying hard to be friendly, but unable to pull it off convincingly, particularly when Clara's scent was so plainly evident on him. It turned K's stomach – the scent of a Creed. Ugh.

"If I'dve known you were comin' out I'dve cleared the path for ya." Bill said. He knew there was some kind of issue between his wife and his old friend, but he hoped it wasn't serious. Clara never owned up to whatever it was that had K going radio silent with him, and K hadn't been around in well over a year – pushing two since the women had spoken. Bill's eyes fell on the twins who were currently sleeping in their crib.

"Holy wah. You got twins – is that why you've been so scarce, K?" Bill said in awe watching the little ones snooze. "Oh, wouldja lookit that – he's your spittin' image, Logan. Man, you been keepin her busy, eh?" he was smiling genuinely as he chuckled. K felt a little bad as she watched her old friend grinning at the toddlers. "Man, Clara would be jealous. She said she always wanted twins." At the mention of her name, K hardened up again. There was no way Bill knew about what had happened. Hell, she wasn't even sure Clara knew what her brother had done.

"What's on your mind, Bill?" Logan asked. Bill finally tore his eyes from the little ones to meet Logan's.

"Well, I saw someone had come down the road, so I had to look into it, eh? I'm not down here as much anymore, but if I see somethin' off I'm gonna check it." Bill replied, the smile still in his eyes. "You guys gonna be here for a while?"

"Not sure for how long, but she needed to get away. Recharge." Logan replied. Bill nodded.

"Well, why don't you come on over to the house tomorrow afternoon. We can have a chance to catch up, and hey – the little ones can play with our little one – he's a little older than those two."

Before K could come up with an excuse, Logan had accepted and the men made their arrangements. Once he was gone, K turned to him open mouthed.

"What the hell? Why did you agree?" K asked.

"A couple reasons. First off, I don't think he knows anything about what went down." Logan said. "Second, I want to see what Clara's reaction is when she sees the twins – and how she reacts to the fact that they're mine. I gotta know if she had anything to do with what Creed did." K had to concede the first point, and was only mildly curious about the second. "Sweetheart, if you're gonna keep this place you gotta know – and I gotta admit, if it was my call I'd keep it just to be a pain in the ass." he said with an aggressive edge to his voice.

"Fine. We'll check it out, but keep a com on you, I'll keep the gun on me." K replied. "And the little ones stay close. I don't want any nasty surprises."

…...


	16. Family Ties

The next evening the little family made their way to Bill's place. It was the first that Logan had seen it, and the difference between it and K's cottage was marked. He was her neighbor, but only in a loose sense. His driveway was nearly five miles from the two track that led to K's place. It was a sprawling turn of the century farm house with a massive old dairy barn and a covered arena that Bill used to board horses. Ten years ago, he used to show, and his old stud horse was still in the barn, gelded now, but still in charge of the herd. When they came into the house, Clara rushed out to see them, nothing but relief on her face when they came into view. She didn't smell nervous, and her welcome couldn't have been warmer, leading most people to believe that she knew nothing of Creed's most recent abuse to K. However, knowing the past with the Creeds, the two Howletts didn't buy it. After dinner the men stepped outside to smoke and Clara finally broke her facade.

"I have to admit, K, I'm surprised that the twins are dark haired." she said quietly. K locked eyes with her, a stab of shock hitting her in the heart as she realized what Clara was saying. The little ones were playing at the women's feet, keeping K from attacking her outright. From the corner of her eye she saw Logan peek at her over his shoulder through the window, his eyebrow raised. "Don't get me wrong, it's a relief, honestly. Vic is still crazy, and I know you hate him, but I have to tell you, he's carrying a real torch for you."

"What all do you know?" K asked, her voice low.

"Well, I know his plan didn't work out the way he wanted. I know he was more than happy to screw you for a few weeks - if nothing else to piss off Logan. He was hoping you would have killed the baby thinking it was his and that would split you two up when you found out it was Logans'. I'm impressed you kept them to find out – you _did_ find out for sure, right?" Clara replied. K was furious. So that was his big deal. He knew going into it she was pregnant and tried to manipulate her – and damned if it didn't almost work.

"He knew." K whispered.

"Of course he knew. His nose works just fine, K." Clara said. "I am a little disappointed though. He said you'd be my sister in law by now." K was incensed.

"That would _Never. Happen._". she snarled. Clara sighed.

"I know. You hate him. I was hoping it would have worked out though. I know, you love Logan, but I think you'd be really good for Victor, and I think we'd be wonderful sisters." Clara said wistfully. K was so angry she didn't even know where she could begin to set her straight. Lucky for Clara the men made their way back in. Sadly for her, both of them knew K well enough to see that she was livid. Bill stopped in his tracks as he looked at K trying to get a hold of herself.

"What's wrong, K? You girls have a disagreement?" Bill asked, genuinely concerned for them.

"No, sweetie. We were just talking about my brother. K isn't a fan." Clara said. Bill nodded his head.

"The way the man acts, Clara, I don't think many are." Bill said. "How do you know Victor?" he asked K as Clara looked sad. K closed her eyes as she tried to find a way to spin it. There wasn't an easy way to tell Bill what had happened without scaring him off permanently.

"He raped her, Bill." Logan supplied. Apparently, Logan wasn't as concerned with scaring Bill as K was. Her old friend was in shock as he stared at her while she still tried to gather herself and find the right words to express.

"K, honey, no." Bill said, nearly whispering as he sat next to her, his arm around her. Logan flinched, but waited. He had to give him a chance to act as a friend.

"I'm fine. Really. I'm over it." K told him. It felt odd to be reassuring someone else over her trauma.

"But that sonofabitch is so goddamned _big._ He had to've hurt ya. I knew there was somethin wrong with him. Ought to shoot the bastard." Bill nearly growled out. Bill and the boys had tried for years to protect K from that kind of thing when she lived there. She really had no idea the lengths they'd gone to to keep her safe.

"You met him, Bill?" Logan asked, trying to divert his rage and get the answers he came for.

"Ya, I met him. He came up and introduced himself when Clara was pregnant. Brought her an old family heirloom – a rattle for the little one. Came back maybe six months ago, wanted to see little Vic." Bill answered, a wave of disgust hit his features as he tried to grasp why his wife would name their child after such a monster. Logan shot Clara a death stare. That would be her only warning from him.

"Bill, do me a favor and just let it go, eh?" K said quietly, her eyes pleading. "Believe me, you do not want to get in the middle of anything with this guy." Bill couldn't believe his ears.

"Did your _husband_ do anything about it? Did he go after him? No offense, Logan but you're kind of a little fella against Vic – at least I'm closer to size."

"I took care of it, Bill. If he knows what's good for him he'll leave her the hell alone." Logan said as he looked at Clara meaningfully.

"Billy, you really don't want to get in the middle of this." Clara said. "I know he's little but Logan is plenty capable of protecting K. Besides, I'll be honest with you, Vic's a mutant. He can heal like K and Logan. You don't want to shoot him – it would only make him mad."

"Yeah Billy. Don't wanna start somethin with someone nastier than you." Victor's voice rang through the house as he stepped in the back door, Logan's claws and growl flying before he even thought about it. "Take it easy, Runt. I'm not here to fight." Bill's eyes were glued to Logan's claws. He knew the little man was dangerous, but this was beyond his imagination. He swore that he'd seen claws like that before. Where the hell had he seen that? "I needed to talk to you and your wife there, Logan."

"I got nothin' good to say to you, Creed, and there ain't no goddamned way you're saying one word to her without my claws aeratein' your brain pan." Logan growled out. "So why don't we take this outside so we don't make a mess on yer sister's nice rug." Creed locked eyes with him and the two began their posturing, crouching ready to spring at each other just as K stepped in front of Logan and Clara in front of Victor.

"Coverin' his ass again, K? Never thought I'd live to see the day you'd need a frail to step up for ya, half pint." Creed growled out.

"Like your sister savin your ass is any better. What do you want now, Creed?" K snarled. "Still can't find a woman of your own?"

"That's cute, frail. By my measure I _did_ find one, then he took her. But that ain't why I'm here. We got trouble." he said evenly. "It involves both of ya, so I guess I need ya to give me a favor." K barked out a laugh.

"A favor. I wouldn't piss on your face to put out a fire." she spit out, turning away already – a mistake any time with him that close to her. He grabbed her arm to stop her from walking away.

"It involves SHIELD. They're pickin' up healin mutants all over the world and startin' their own experiments. Your little pal Stark thought he cleared out all the files, but he missed the originals that Cornelius gave to Killebrew. Not that I care, but they'll be makin a move to snatch up the kiddies soon, so if you want to keep yer brats ya might want to reconsider not puttin out that fire, ya uppity little square-head." It was too much for Logan as he rushed at Creed, who simply pulled K up tightly to him to use as a shield. There was no way Logan would hurt her, and he stopped in his tracks.

"Go on, runt." Creed growled as he held K by the throat, crushing her body to him.

"Take it outside." K whispered, Creeds' grip too tight for her to actually speak as all their eyes flitted to Bill, who had just racked a round into his hunting rifle and had it pointed directly at Creed's head.

"Put her down, big guy. No reason at all for you to touch her ever again." Bill said evenly. If he was scared, it sure as hell didn't show. Creed glared at him.

"You think you can make the shot, farm boy?" Creed snarled.

"Oh I think I got a good chance. Spent ten years as a sniper for the Navy. How quick can you heal from a .300 Winchester to your orbital lobe." Bill replied. K actually smiled at him as Creed let her slip down, Bill smart enough to not drop the rifle from his target.

"Alright. Don't make a mess, boys – and K." Clara said quietly. "The kids are still here too, don't forget that." Logan waited until K was at his side and Creed moved back before he retracted his claws. The whole group taking a seat awkwardly now. K and Logan's little ones ran over to their parents as soon as the immediate danger was out of the air, and little Vic happily toddled up to Creed, who picked the boy up. Logan and K both thought the image of him holding a small child odd and disturbing, particularly when said child was snuggling into his broad chest.

"If that's true, Creed, why don't you just go back to your hole and let the X-Men handle it." Logan said.

"Like I'd trust your little X-geeks to handle this right." Creed growled back. "Can't even keep me in check for more'n a week."

"How bout the Avengers then?" K offered. Creed scoffed.

"Please. I'm talking about pullin' together the old team – Maverick and Wraith anyhow. K you can step into Fox's place – fitting enough seein' as ya already did." he laughed to himself. "Avengers can't get involved seein's as SHIELD is part of the problem."

"Killebrew, eh?" Logan considered. K couldn't believe the two were actually not at each other's throats already. "If he's the trouble it'd be a good idea to get Deadpool in. Don't think anyone knows 'im better or has a bigger axe to grind against the guy." Creed grinned, nodding his head.

"That's the way, boy. Grab yer gear, let's go." Creed growled out.

"No." Logan replied. "_You_ go talk to Wilson. We're goin back to Westchester. I'm talkin' to a few of my people before I do anything. I'm sure you won't take offense to me not trusting a damn word that comes outta your filthy lyin' mouth."

"Heh. You do that, boy. Just make sure your security's better'n it was when I took your little wife with me for our little … trip." He was leering at her as he finished his thought, his voice lowered, his eyes resting at her hips. She got sick thinking of what he was imagining. Or remembering. Ugh. She shivered and stepped behind Logan, using him to block her body from his eyes. "Don't hurt to look, frail. Unless you want another round." Creed grinned as Logan growled.

"Brother, let them go. I'm sure you know how to get a hold of them without kidnapping K." Clara said, irritation in her voice. Reluctantly, Creed agreed and they parted company, Bill walking with them to the jeep.

"You're that Wolverine fella, aren'tcha, Logan." Bill said grimly. Logan nodded his head as Bill turned to K. "Ya little hard ass. No wonder the guys around here didn't float yer skirt. Had to go find a damned superhero?" K smirked.

"Didn't plan it that way, Bill." she replied. He shook his head with a resigned smirk.

"No, I know that. Am I gonna be seein' you on the news too, honey?" he asked, his eyes bright as K shrugged.

"Listen, Bill, we're headed back. I'll be back before too long. Keep out of Creed's way. He's the one that gave Clara those scars – he's done a lot worse to his own too. It wouldn't be any skin off his nose to widow his sister." Logan warned as K bid him good bye and they loaded up to leave.


	17. Working with the Tooth

K was quiet as she stared ahead out the window of the Hummer. They'd met up with the old members of Weapon X's covert team in an abandoned air field near the Swiss alps, and to say K was uneasy would be an understatement. She still wasn't sure why Logan had agreed to go on the mission, but she sure as hell wasn't letting him go alone. They'd written Creed off as a liar until a few days after their return to Westchester when Stark stopped in strictly off the record with Thor trying to get them to take an extended vacation in Asgard as all the known ferals were being rounded up. They took a compromise at the last moment, sending the little ones, Kitty and Michael to Asgard with Thor as a precaution. She and her husband were currently in the back seat, his hand over hers as they prepared for the upcoming raid that promised to be highly violent. Their positions were clear. This was the old Weapon X team, reformed with a few minor tweaks. Logan was taking his old position on point, Creed was slack man, followed by K and Laura running flank and Wraith for their TEC with Maverick on rear slack. Deadpool was hidden at a strategical point as their sniper, already in position and waiting. As they came close to their drop point, they all quietly began to gather their gear and adjust their earwigs. All the weapons were in the aft of the vehicle, ready to go as soon as they got out. Logan kissed his wife before they left the vehicle, making a point to double check her side arms and help her gear up. Creed was getting impatient watching the two of them as he fully geared up himself, his M249 now fully ready to go, a heavy pouch attached to the rifle by the belt of ammunition it held.

"You lovebirds here to do this or what." Creed growled out. Logan looking at him with a scowl as K racked her FN SCAR CQC rifle, her pouches heavy with ammo and to Creeds' shock a half dozen grenades as well. "Can you handle that, little girl?" he asked her, thinking that the gun honestly looked awfully damn big for such a small woman. K just glared at him as she readjusted her earwig. Laura didn't even have anything with a grenade launcher on it – K however wanted to be prepared. The plan was laid out on where they'd go and all of them took position as Deadpool's voice rang in their ears.

"Alright, hey guys – finally getting this party started! Woo hoo!"

"Whose bright idea was it to put him on sniper position. Now we gotta listen to him the whole damn time." Wraith complained.

"Alright, let's just get this show on the road. I don't think any of us really wanna be here." Logan grumbled as they all fell in behind him, weapons at the ready. Laura stared at her 'father' a moment before they began.

"You alright, frail?" Creed asked, looking at the black haired pale girl.

"I've never seen him with a gun before." Laura said as she readied her own rifle. Creed just laughed to himself and made her switch position with K.

"What the hell -" K said as he finally took his hand off her.

"View's better now." Creed smirked as he looked down at her, grinning. Sudden realization hit her. Oh gross. This was his version at flirting. Disgusting. Watching Logan work out of the corner of her eye K had to smile to herself. He really was amazing to watch on the job. Their wordless communication clued her in to what was going on in his head long before he could signal to the rest of the group, the two of them working seamlessly. They infiltrated the facility quickly and silently, Laura breaking off from the group as they came up on the surveillance room, disabling the cameras that effected their movement, the alarms, all communications, and sealing the door. A little further down, they came across the lab, finding at least thirty restrained ferals of all types caged or strapped down. K was slightly nearer the ledge due to where she had to stand in relation to Creed as they progressed, when he decided she should be more in the shadows, pulling her close in to him by slipping his large hand across her waist and hauling her to him.

"Keep tight, girl. Don't need to get spotted by a one of these losers." he growled out quietly in her ear. The sound of it honestly froze her up for a moment as his breath on her neck reminded her again of his sheer size and strength. His hand drifted up to her shoulder where he could direct her easier. Logan saw his action and was losing his patience with the bigger man taking liberties touching his wife, but now wasn't the time to say or do anything … yet. Not without blowing the mission. K tried her best to ignore him until she had to sneak up with the two of them to check out the security detail below. Creed decided it was a good idea to rest his hand incredibly low on her back as they were prone at the edge of the ledge. She wiggled, trying to give him a gentle hint to not touch her. He took it as encouragement, dropping his hand lower.

"Creed, I've been putting up with a lotta shit from you today. Take your hand off her ass unless you want it removed and shoved up yours." Logan growled out quietly, his eyes not moving from the scene below them. Creed chuckled a little to himself but complied. There were bigger fish to fry right now. The men in the lab, both guards and docs, all wore the SHIELD insignia as they worked. At the moment they had a young woman with tufts of soft wispy looking hair up her forearms that lengthened at the elbows. They strapped her onto an operating table and began running her through her paces, her screams echoing the chamber they were in as they tortured her until Killebrew's voice rose up above the clatter.

"No, no good. This one doesn't heal fast enough. Harvest her." he ordered. The doctors complied – removing the marrow from her bones before cracking open her skull and removing her brain. All this without bothering to put her out or down first. K was horrified. Even Creed looked sick. A young man on the floor – who Logan suddenly recognized as one of the doctors he'd seen on the helicarrier – seemed a bit disgusted by the action of the doctors currently picking over the young feral's corpse.

"Dr. Killebrew, can you please explain to me why it's necessary to _not _drug them before we remove their samples?" the young man asked. The young woman's unseeing eyes staring off vacantly.

"I told you, boy." Killebrew answered, an oddly delighted tone to his voice, "the tissue is worthless if there are any drugs in their system or if they've died already. They must be harvested alive if our serum is to function properly. It's bad enough that everything we had from the Weapon X project is gone, I shouldn't have to suffer your incompetence too." Logan and Creed shot each other a glance. Apparently this was something they'd heard about before. Logan tipped Creed the signal to back off, all three of them retreating back to the shadows.

"Alright Creed. Get the intel we need, then no mercy." Logan whispered low.

"You ready to get kinetic, frail?" Creed asked her, Logan watching her reaction. For just a fraction of a second, she could actually see how these two could be fucking fantastic as a team. She nodded her head in agreement, Logan looking grim and Creed looking like Christmas came early. Logan signaled to Wraith, who checked in with Laura for a status. She illuminated for them where exactly in the workshop that Killebrew had all of his information – blessedly all of it off line, and as far as they knew, no back ups. Logan made a point to tell them to be damned sure not to waste Killebrew until they had a chance to interrogate. K slipped up onto her knees, taking aim carefully at the room below where Killebrew had his lifetime of research. Logan and Creed had their rifles at the ready.

"On your signal." K said very low, and at the same time both Logan and Creed told her to fire. A hollow thwack sounded out, the lab rats and security looking around a moment thinking someone had popped a rather large champagne cork or something to that effect as the three ferals above them took cover, both men trying to shield K seconds before the blast shattered the glass in the room below, shrapnel flying. Two guards were killed by glass alone and several docs were injured as K pushed them off her and switched her hold, going for the rifle portion of the evening, the three of them now sniping off the guards. Maverick, Laura, and Wraith had made their way to the exits, sealing them so that none of the scientists could make their way out without having to take on one of the team members. Now was Creed's turn to shine – as it were. Slinging his rifle he jumped to the floor, the doctors trying to avoid him like the plague, failing miserably as he snatched up one after another, questioning them as to whose project this was, Killebrew himself hiding behind a large piece of machinery that a tall feral man was strapped into. Once they had Killebrew cornered, Logan went to his earpiece.

"Alright, if you can get in, it's time." Logan said to his com. Killebrew staring at him as if he were some kind of a ghost.

"W-who are you talking to." Killebrew whispered, his eyes wide and face pale.

"An old friend of yours. He's got some questions for you, and you're gonna answer every one." Logan replied, slinging his rifle behind him. The rest of the team gathered up the docs, Maverick holding them at gunpoint while Wraith kept watch for any uninvited guests. As K pushed the SHIELD doc into the group, he tried to befriend her.

"I.. I worked on you. On th-the helicarrier. I was one of your doctors." he stammered, clearly ready to wet himself. "I'm with SHIELD. Please."

"Yeah, I remember you." Logan growled. "You were lookin' at her like a damned piece o' meat. You take her blood here after we left?" he demanded. The terrified look on his face was all the proof Logan needed. Killebrew's head whipped up to K.

"You're the sample from SHIELD?" Killebrew spit out before he could censor himself. Creed backhanded him.

"Shaddup, ya overgrown rat." he growled. "No one wants ta hear what you have to say."

"Even with the toxins in your sample, your chemistry is unparalleled. Oh, I do wish they'd have found you. I would love to get you into my workshop." he said, his eyes plainly roving her body.

"Can I shoot him now?" K asked, looking to Logan.

"I think you'll need to take a number on that. Much as I hate to admit it, Wilson's got first crack at this one." Logan replied as K came to stand next to him. Killebrew's studious eye on K was interrupted at mention of Wade.

"No. You're bluffing. You don't have that lunatic with you." Killebrew gasped. His head whipped toward the door to the sound of quickly approaching footsteps. When Deadpool walked through the door, Killebrew tried to get away from him.

"Come on, _pal_. We got lots to talk about for about two minutes before I waste ya, ya sick puppy." Wade growled out, dragging Killebrew to one of the examination tables. Laura went to the door to keep watch while Maverick and Wraith kept their positions, K and Logan turning their backs to Killebrews' screams, Creed watching with a sadistic grin.

"You should see this, frail. Ol' Deadpool actually has some good ideas." Creed said, trying to get her to his side. She shivered, leaning into Logan. Deadpool came over to them a few minutes later, the tortured doctor breathing heavily in the background.

"Got him all softened up for you, boys." Deadpool said, strutting in and stopping next to K. Logan and Creed shared a look before both of them headed back to Killebrew, leaving K with Deadpool. It was quiet exactly 3.4 seconds before Wade began talking. A new record for him.

"Sooooo. How have you been? Last I saw you you were naked and covered in blood – red is totes your color, by the way." Deadpool said, his lack of social convention showing. She turned to look at him a moment.

"What's with the mask?" K asked. Wraith laughed.

"You don't wanna know, little girl." Wraith said, shaking his head. Before Deadpool could answer, Killebrew's anguished scream echoed the lab, followed immediately by a whole lot of snarling and Logan kicking Creed out. He stomped over and stood behind K. She looked over her shoulder at him, Creed making an effort to not snarl at her as she ignored him.

"You shouldn't turn your back on me, frail." Creed growled down to her. She didn't even bother to turn her head.

"You shouldn't be callin' me frail, cocksucker." She growled in return. All the men in the room froze, eyebrows raised at her insult. She could feel the rage rolling off him as he considered shredding her into a fine mist.

"Alright now, just calm down. We don't need to turn on each other." Wraith threw out.

"What makes you think you can talk to me like that." he nearly snarled as he leaned over her shoulder.

"I'm an American. It's a free country." she replied simply. Deadpool chuckled.

"American. Tee hee." Deadpool mused. K finally turned her head to his laughter.

"What's so damned funny?" K asked him. He took a big breath to answer when Logan walked back.

"All yours, Wilson. I got what we needed." Logan said, stopping in front of K and facing Creed. "You wanna step back from my woman now, or you lookin' to bleed." Creed narrowed his eyes at him considering his options. "Keep in mind she's kicked yer ass before and I'm right here to help her." Creed growled and pushed K into him.

"Keep her. She's got yer stink all over her anyhow." Creed spit out as Logan helped K upright. Deadpool began chuckling as he strolled back to Killebrew. Two gunshots later, Deadpool dragged out a can of diesel he'd brought in with him, dousing the lab while Logan, K and Laura released the caged ferals. When most of them were clear, he lit the place up, burning all evidence of the experimentation that Logan hadn't pocketed while Creed began shredding doctors. Logan coldly took K by the elbow and led her out as Creed had his own little version of a party. Neither liked it, but that was part of their agreement, and seeing as Creed had behaved pretty well, Logan had to hold up his end.

...

The couple was on their way back in a mini jet when K finally turned to her husband.

"Did you find what you were looking for back there?" She looked quite relaxed now, leaning back in her seat as she watched him. His mouth tightened as he looked back at her.

"Yeah. I think so. I took everything that relates to us, and everything that has to do with SHIELD. You're gonna need to go with me when I talk to Fury." he replied.

"What for?"

"Emphasis." he replied, turning back to the control panels. She followed his gaze and stared at the banks of lights and switches. That could mean damn near anything. She found herself watching him again as he flew the jet. Just watching as he clearly was thinking hard about something until his eyes flickered to her.

"What?" he said, oblivious. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"Why was Deadpool laughing about my being American?" she asked cautiously. His eyebrows went up and he fidgeted a bit, fiddling with some buttons he clearly didn't need to mess with at that moment. She eyed him warily now. "Logan -"

"He's a lunatic. Don't worry about it." he said quickly. Her mouth dropped and her eyes narrowed.

"What. Did you do." she said, glaring, turning her body to face him fully.

"Nothing. I didn't do a damn thing." she knew he wasn't lying, but it still wasn't the full story.

"I'm going to find out – whatever it is that you did," K told him, Logan resolutely making a point to not look at her. "and judging by your reactions, I'm probably going to be mad, right?" he didn't react at all to her. Irritated, she finally returned to simply staring out the window, arms crossed.

"Hey. Just – remember that I love you before you go to getting all pissed off." he said after a fair stretch of silence. She turned her head to him and took him in as he looked back - sheepishly? Really? His expression alone was enough to disarm her.

"Noted." He switched the jet to auto pilot and the two of them turned to face each other, Logan taking her hands in his.

"Remember when we were getting ready to get married, and you said we'd need to fake some documents?"

"You gotta be kidding me."


	18. Debreifing

"Wasn't my idea, darlin'." Logan tried to tell her for at least the third time. She just shook her head and rolled her eyes whenever he did. "Would've been the other way if we'd done it stateside." She was giving him a damn cold shoulder, but he could feel her relaxing as he took her hand in his. He knew he was more or less in the clear when her familiar gripe echoed in his head. _Damn Canadian._ He smirked as she turned to face him finally, dropping his hand.

"You shut the hell up." she said, daring him to say something.

"I would but you shouldn't talk about yourself like that." he teased. She glared at him in response.

"I am _not_ a goddamned Canadian."

"Well, the official word is that you are." he countered, exhaling the smoke from his cigar as he leaned back. Yes, she was pissed off, but it sure felt good to have that off his chest. At first he thought it was funny, but as time slipped away from him he just couldn't find a good time to tell her and the further they got from it, the more pissed off he knew she'd be. "You alright, darlin'?" She sighed as she finally relaxed a bit.

"Yeah." she said finally. "That's just the last damn thing I had on my mind. And you're going to pay for this." she added with a growl. He smirked knowing how she liked to 'punish' him when they didn't see eye to eye.

"You go on and do your worst, sweetheart, but like I said – wasn't my doin'." he replied, secretly pleased that she was taking it so well. This was honestly something he thought she'd fight him over. She narrowed her eyes, still not believing him entirely.

"Who." she said seriously. He shook his head as he put out the cigar. They were nearly home now.

"Nope." he breathed out, the last of the smoke rising around him as he exhaled and reached for her hand.

"Have it your way." she replied, squeezing his hand, already thinking on how she'd get it out of him, both of them looking forward to a little private time before they saw the little ones the next day. A short time later they landed, the two of them making their way inside, his arm around her as they walked, Stark and Thor awaiting them in the hangar with Scott.

"Did you do it?" Stark asked. He looked as if he hadn't slept in weeks and in reality, he hadn't. He'd been obsessing over SHIELD apparently reviving the Weapon X program for their own purposes, which, he had yet to determine.

"Yeah, I got it." Logan replied, digging into a pouch at his waist and handing him a flash drive. "Everything there's been destroyed, including all the personnel. Hope you didn't have friends in there." Stark looked taken back, but didn't say anything. He very well could have done the mission himself, if not for the fact that SHIELD was keeping tabs on his armor – their programs interwoven to each other to the point of redundancy. Starks eye wandered to K, who still had her gear on from the raid, only the rifle missing as she leaned against the wall, looking distant a pace or two behind Logan. Thinking better of asking her how she was, they got right down to business, Tony getting sick at the depth of corruption he was finding.

"Don't call Fury." Tony said suddenly. "his phone is tapped. Can't be trusted." Logan swore under his breath. That would explain why they knew so much. Suddenly, Fury's refusal to tell anyone anything was starting to make sense. How long had he known or suspected this was going on? Going against his advice Logan made the call anyhow.

"You comin' out to poker or do I need to drag you, Nicholas?" Logan growled out. Fury's tone was suspicious when he answered back, offering to bring some beer.

"Nah, we got all we need. Just bring your money." Logan replied. Nothing more was said as he hung up.

"What was that?" Scott asked.

"Lettin' him know he's got trouble. He'll be out as soon as he can break away." Logan replied. "I'm goin' to change. Keep diggin, I'm sure there's more little … treasures in there." He grabbed K's wrist and dragged her behind him toward the boat house. Half way there, something felt off.

"Stay behind me." he growled out low, his body tense as he scanned the treeline, his heart pounding. He'd caught a whiff of something foreign … and he thought gun oil, though that could have been on either he or his bride. She froze but did as he told her, only turning her head to look toward the road when a shot rang out and she crumpled to the ground. He spun to the direction of the shot, seeing nothing before dropping to her side, shocked when he realized she'd been shot directly in the eye. Panicking, he picked her up, running for the house, hoping he could get her inside. As he breached the front door, he shouted out his override command to arm the security system as he rushed her to the lab.

…...

She was completely unresponsive while Logan frantically gave her mouth to mouth, the alarm raised as Hank rushed to their aid. Her heart was beating weakly, but it didn't look good. Jean had to come in to read Logan's mind as he refused to stop breathing for her while Hank readied the respirator. Pushing Logan away from her bodily with Thor's assistance, Hank got her intubated and started up the machine while they quickly formulated a plan.

"We can't X-ray or MRI. It just won't see past her skull. The only option is to go in through the wound and attempt to find the bullet." Hank said, frustrated at the thought. The amount of damage they would likely do was staggering, even to someone that could heal. If his guess was correct, and it likely was, the bullet had already ricocheted around her head resting who knows where, and with unknown amounts of damage. Hank's preliminary examination had shown him that by some horrid miserable miracle, the bullet had been just small enough and at the right angle to slip right into the tiny orbital fissure at the back of her eye socket. Logan shook his head, pale and sick looking.

"Call Magneto." he said quietly. "He's her only shot." The room was silent. For him to ask for help was monumental on it's own. To request Eric was unheard of.

"Logan, are you sure? Maybe we can find Lorna." Jean suggested.

"No. Give me the damn phone if you don't want to call him. I'm not gonna cross my fingers you find the junior league in time _and_ that she lucks out and doesn't do more damage. I need a pro on this. She needs _him_. I don't give a damn what bullshit feud is raging right now. Just get him here." Jean nodded and ran from the lab, which was now silent save for the slow beeps from the monitors and the mechanical sound of the ventilator.

"What happened." Tony whispered. Jean returned before anyone could answer, the phone in her hand.

"He wants to hear it from you." Jean said, pity in her eyes. Logan didn't flinch, immediately telling Eric that he was desperate for his help, and that he would do anything to get it. There was a short pause and Logan thanked him before hanging up the phone.

"He'll be here within the hour." he said quietly. None of his team mates could believe their ears, and any questions they had were moot at this point. All that mattered now was that he'd just offered himself up as payment if that's what Magneto wanted, to hell with all other obligations.

Jean met Eric at the door with Charles. He made no friendly chatter with them outside of asking they lead him to Logan. When the two men met, Magneto asked the obvious – if this was a ruse to capture him as he levitated Logan, his arms tight to his sides.

"I'm not that stupid." Logan answered. He looked pleased as he stepped around him to K, shaking his head sadly when he saw her state of affairs.

"Tell me what happened." Eric said softly, nothing but kindness in his voice as he lowered the feral man to the ground. Logan launched into the story, giving detail of only their walk to the boat house that ended with him rushing her back. He turned to look at Logan, taking note of the black combat fatigues he and his wife wore.

"You will tell me everything of your mission when we are through." Eric said. Logan agreed to the uproar of Scott and Starks' protests. Turning back to the battered woman, he raised his hands over her head, eyes closed as he 'searched' for the extra hunk of metal inside her. Her head turned toward his hands and he opened his eyes, toying with it a moment before slowly manipulating it back out of the damaged eye, the copper bullet visibly mangled from ricochets against her adamantium skull. He floated the bullet to Logan, telling him to open his hand before dropping it into his palm.

"Remember this was what it cost for me to buy you. Pennies worth of copper for a man with a ten million dollar skeleton." Magneto said, Logan's fingers closing around the bullet.

"She's worth it." Logan said simply. Magneto gave him a sad, understanding smile.

"I certainly hope so. Now, come and tell me all you know. I'm sure your 'friends' won't harm her in our absence." Logan simply led him past the small group of them to the ready room previously occupied by Stark, locking the door behind him as he sat down with Magneto and told all. When they were finished Magneto made to let himself out, Charles refusing to let him simply walk away without talking to him as Logan made his way back to the lab.

"What did you tell him? What the hell, Logan. Are you going to tell us what happened?" Scott barked out.

"I told him everything. I'm sorry, but I can't tell you the same." The room again fell silent. As Scott's temper flared Logan turned to Thor. "I'm gonna need my kids back. As soon as you can get them here." Thor nodded and quickly turned on his heel, leaving them to fulfill Logan's request. The air felt charged, the group was in shock. Jean looked ready to cry. "Hank, I need you to do me one more favor. Get her ready to leave."

"She's in no condition to go anywhere Logan. You need to leave her right here so we can -"

"She has to go with me, Henry. Magneto will be back tomorrow night. I can't do this without her. Even if she doesn't wake up. I need her there." Logan said, cutting him off, and exposing part of the conditions of the deal.

"So you have to what … help him for a while?" Stark asked as Logan shook his head no.

"You'll find my communicators In my jeep, Harley and locker." he said, his eyes drifting between Scott and Stark. "I'm off the team effective immediately."

"Wait – which team?" Scott asked

"All of them. I'm out." Logan replied.

"So what? You're just going to switch sides? Just like that? K won't go for it." Stark said, anger in his voice now.

"She's my wife. She belongs with me and she'll stay with me even if I have to make her."

"Logan." Jean was heart broken as she said his name, pure pity in her voice.

"I wish it was different, Jeannie. But, I gave my word. I can't go back on it."

"There has to be another way." she said, tears in her eyes.

"Those were his conditions. I agreed to them, and that's the end of it." He said it with a finality that warned them not to push it. Scott in his anger rushed him, and punched him with all he had, breaking three fingers as he knocked out a few of Logan's teeth before he and Stark both stomped off, fuming at him. Logan didn't react beyond simply taking it and spitting out the teeth, waiting for them to regrow as Jean stayed behind, not ready to say good bye yet. "Jeannie. Tell Charlie I'm sorry." There was a depth of sadness to his voice that she wasn't prepared for. She tactfully turned and left him with his thoughts as he prayed she'd wake up and be herself. Maybe then he'd be able to come back to them.


	19. Avalon is no paradise

*** Translation provided at the end if you're curious. It's totally unnecessary to know the translation for the purpose of the read though.

...

Abbey watched as some strangers moved her mother outside on a bed, funny tubes and wires all over her. She wanted to hug her, but Auntie Jeannie wouldn't let her go, and Jeannie was angry with Daddy. She watched the adults argue, her little features screwed up in concentration as she watched them bicker about her and her little brother and sissy. Suddenly, she started wriggling in Jeannie's arms, pushing on her until she set her on the ground. As soon as her little feet hit the ground, she ran to her Dad, who didn't hesitate in picking her up. She threw herself into him, hugging him as well as her little arms would allow, her head on his shoulder as he hugged her back. She didn't know all of what was happening, but she knew she wanted to be with her parents. Before she left with her family, she heard Charles in her head – that sneaky Uncle Charlie liked to tell her things no one else could hear. _If you ever need help, or if any of you are in trouble, just call out to me, Abbey. I will always listen for you._ Daddy let her down to say good bye to Uncle Charlie, looking very sad when he picked her up again, but not saying goodbye to their family at the school. Her big sissies were upset with Daddy, and she even heard Jubie say something bad about Mom that made Daddy very mad. As he carried her away from the house, she waved sadly at Charlie in the window.

…...

"That had to be a one in a million shot." one of the doctors said, peeling open K's eyelid and trying to examine her, all the damage to her eye now healed. They had just removed the tubes for the respirator and their patient was sleeping soundly.

"It was pure luck." the second doctor said.

"Do they know who did it?" the first doc said, moving the little woman to a different bed, one that was in the room of the X-man that Magneto had bargained for.

"_They_ don't. You better hope they don't figure it out either. All hell will break loose if that animal figures out it was all part of the plan." the second doc answered.

…...

It took nearly two weeks for K to open her eyes. When she did, she was alone in a strange place, not a soul around. She began to look around her, trying to gain her bearings when a tall man in a white coat came in, asking her questions. She couldn't understand a word he was saying. She could hear him talking, but she just had no idea what was coming out of his mouth. After he got frustrated with her, he realized she didn't understand him and simply left her alone. She stared at the door for a moment, more confused now than before the doctor came in. She was getting scared, and decided it was time to get the hell out of wherever she was. As she swung her feet over the edge of her bed, her husband's familiar face appeared, taking her hand. She smiled, clutching to him as he squeezed her hard enough to crush her.

"Hey darlin'. I've been worried sick." Logan said, his voice all gravel and smoke.

***"Hej. Jag är så glad att se dig. Vad hände, var är vi?" K replied. Logan stiffened in her arms, holding her at an arms length to look at her properly.

"Do you understand me, sweetheart?" She looked confused as she concentrated on him.

"Vad i helvete menar ni, Logan? Jag förstår inte dig." K was searching his face for answers.

"Fuck." he mumbled to himself, rubbing his face. His nerves were fried. Magneto's place was posh, spacious, but they didn't have shit for him to burn off his energy and he hadn't been allowed out unless he was retrieving covert information. He suddenly found himself wondering if she'd been speaking to the little ones in Swedish when he wasn't around. Inspiration hit him.

"I'll be right back, sweetheart. I'm goin' to get Abbey." he told her.

"Abbey? Var är hon?" K asked, clearly not understanding him. He put his hand up to try to show he'd be right back, returning a few minutes later with the little girl.

"Abbey! Åh, min söta liten flicka." K said, Abbey rushing to her, the two of them hugging tightly, tears in both their eyes.

"Jag missade du mama." Abbey's tiny voice rang out, Logan sighing in relief. At least someone would be able to translate, as long as the words were small. A few minutes later, one of the doctors made an appearance, and checked her over.

"What is she saying anyhow?" the young doctor asked Logan.

"No idea." Logan replied. The doctor froze.

"You're kidding. That's interesting. Do you think she'll fade back into it, or are you gonna have to learn whatever it is?" the doc asked him. Logan shook his head, Hell, of all the bad options he'd prepared himself for, he hadn't even thought this was a possibility. The last thing he expected was her to lose her frikkin' language. A few hours later after K had been reunited with her little ones, complementing them and teasing them in what apparently was her native tongue, and the little ones reacting as if they understood her perfectly, they received a visitor. The doctors had gotten word to Magneto on K's condition. He had wanted to keep close watch on the little woman – her health was vital to his plans. When he heard K speak, he truly wished Charles was on his side right now.

"Vad han gör här? Är vi fångar?" K asked, brow wrinkled, staring as Magneto stepped into the room. Magneto stopped and watched her a moment, taking her in.

"If Charles were here …. my word. He'd have a ball with her." Logan didn't even look at him. He was beyond stressed out. How the hell was this supposed to work out. Magneto rested his hand on Logan's shoulder. He'd proven himself, retrieving information from the Black Budget in the UK – Britains' version of weapon X and the Omega project in Russia. Logan knew now without a doubt what Magneto had wanted him for, and he hated it. It was bad enough many people – his own team mates at times even – considered him an animal. Now he got to be an example of what their own government – that claimed to stand for human rights – had done to unwilling mutants. He certainly wasn't the first, but he was one of the few still alive. And K - proof that it had continued this whole time.

"It will all be over soon, and you can take your family wherever you wish. Go back to Charles if he'll allow it, but if you do, my offer for protection will be recinded." Magneto said, Logan's heart heavier than it had been in years. "I can almost understand her. If it weren't such a setback, it would be positively charming."

"She's not done healin'. She's still sleeping a lot." Logan replied. he desperately wished that Eric would just drop it and let them leave. He'd put his neck on the line for him a dozen times in the short time he'd been there – all of it covert. It had to be. Had he been caught and identified doing what he was doing, the whole point of having the two of them there would be shot – though it hadn't passed Logan's understanding that _if_ that had happened, Magneto would simply use that as proof of the manipulations that his mind had been through, using K as the stark contrast – which right now would work perfectly, seeing as she was just spending her time with the little ones, the picture perfect little mother.

"Be that as it may, Wanda will be bringing you some materials so that you may communicate with her. Learn the language quickly, Logan. It could help her regain her full mind." Eric said, leaving him alone with his little family and his thoughts. A few hours later, Wanda did indeed show, materials in hand.

"Are you sure you don't want me to just …. give her a little push?" Wanda asked, pity for the X-Man ran deeper than she had thought possible. He just shook his head. Wanda truly felt for him. She had been questioning her father's methods now for a while, and knowing what he'd done to get Logan here had weighed heavily on her mind. There were, after all, many other mutants he could have used for his illustration. Many that were more than willing to support his viewpoint.

"I don't want to mess with her head." He replied. "She might just get it back." Wanda nodded in understanding, gently telling him that if he changed his mind, she'd be more than happy to help him.

K _was_ beginning to get some of it back. She wasn't totally up to trying to reply in English, but she was starting to understand some of what the English speakers around her said, though her reply was always in Swedish, and they didn't know what she was saying at all. Her link with Logan was intact, but he was under such duress that he simply couldn't 'hear' her. She needed to ease his mind somehow. Concentrating hard she reached out to him mentally as she gently touched took his hand. _Damn Canadian._ He'd been pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to center himself when her voice echoed in his head. He turned to look at her, finding her smiling at him. He narrowed his eyes, making a concerted effort to concentrate on her, smiling when he realized she could think perfectly in English. She was simply having trouble forming the words. There was some kind of a disconnect happening that she hadn't gotten past yet. He remembered suddenly that there were no notes of their mental bond. So far, everything on paper made it sound entirely animalistic, and all about their primal connection. Nothing mentioned their higher bond. He realized they had a means of silent communication, smiling the tiniest bit as he squeezed her hand in response.

…...

It took hours after Logan and K left before Charles and Hank could get the team to calm down and focus. The evidence ahead of them was fairly damning. Charles didn't trust how lucky a shot that was. No sniper on the planet could have hoped to breach the adamantium in her eye socket with such a fine margin. Had it hit millimeters in any direction, it simply would not have penetrated. It certainly would have done her damage, but not like this. The fact that Eric was so nearby when it happened also had Charles suspicious. Stark happened to be in the lab with Hank one afternoon perhaps a week after the incident when Charles came to see how their work was coming.

"I got the satellite images, Charles." Stark said, handing over a file folder. "You were right. It was Domino. She even admitted it. She was hired to take out K – even what shot to use on her. She feels awful, if that counts for anything, but I doubt she's giving the money to a children's charity in penance."

"Who hired her?" Charles asked as he skimmed through the file folder.

"That's the best part. It was Magneto. He told her that K was working for Weapon X in an effort to get Logan back on the leash." Stark replied.

…...

Logan kissed K as she slept, his hand covering hers as he readied to leave. She was finally in his room full time with the little ones. They were snuggled up sleeping with her at the moment. _Be careful love. Please don't get caught._ K projected out.

_I'll try not to, Darlin'. But God only knows what's gonna happen when I get in there. _ He replied, leaning in to kiss her properly seeing as she was awake.

"Love you." K said clearly, worry etched in her features.

"Love you too. Don't worry. I'll come back to you." he said quietly, cradling her face in his hand. She nodded, but watched him leave anyhow, not really relaxing until she heard the doors close down the hall, even then, she couldn't really calm down, only lying still so that the little ones snuggled into her weren't disturbed.

…...

Logan hopped the fence, praying that the alarm wasn't on. He had to get in and out undetected. He didn't know how his old team mates would take it if he was caught stealing intel from them. He was in his super sneaky mode, mindful of the mines that Forge had installed near the house. The place was dark, only a nightlight shining in a window here and there in the student's wing. The last time he'd tried to get past security for their test, he was captured and shot up. He was reasonably sure he'd be shot up a hell of a lot worse before someone killed the system if he got caught up this time. It was easy then, Forge's scent was still littered around where the mines were. This time, there was enough time past that the scent was long gone. Before he got to the lawn though, he was hit with a crippling headache. Pain bloomed behind his eyes and his hands went to his head as he fell to his knees. He couldn't see. He couldn't hear. He could hardly move but to thrash and cry out in pain. He couldn't pop his claws. Suddenly in the midst of the pain, he found himself tasting dirt, his arms wrenched behind his back and his wrists and ankles tied together. The pain dissipated and he found himself looking at Scott and Forge, Jean standing back a few paces – all of them looking angry.

"You didn't really think you'd be able to sneak in here again, did you, Logan?" Scott said, arms crossed. "You sold us out. SHIELD isn't going to give you immunity anymore either. You're wanted now. Your other team will be here in a few hours to haul you off." With that, Scott and Forge each grabbed an arm, dragging their old teammate up to the house, intending to throw him in a holding cell.

"Wait. Lemmie explain." Logan rasped out.

"Forget it." Scott growled out as he and Forge dropped him on the front steps, face first into the concrete. Logan heard beeping as Forge swept his body, searching for electronics, tearing out his two way communicator in his ear and smashing it. What Logan didn't expect was the recording device Forge found in his belt, which was also subsequently smashed.

"Come on, Logan. Let's get you cleaned up." Jean said kindly, to his confusion as soon as the second device was destroyed. The two men picked him up again, roughly hauling him in, kicking the door closed behind them before gently setting him down this time.

"We're on your side, Logan. Relax." Scott told him as he untied his old friend. When he had his hands back he looked at the three of them perplexed.

"What the hell's goin' on?" Logan asked.

"That's what we need to tell you before you get your intel and make a spectacular escape." Forge replied as they took him to the lower levels to fill him in on all they'd found out.

…...

Translations:::

1)"Hi, I'm so glad to see you, where are we?"

2) "What the hell do you mean, Logan? I don't understand you."

3) Abbey? Where is she?

4) Oh, My sweet little girl.

5) I missed you, mama.

6) What's he doing here? Are we prisoners?

And thus ends the foreign language portion of the evening.


	20. Mutant David and Goliath

Abbey was playing with her little brother while K got Rose dressed. They hadn't been awake for too long when the men came in demanding they follow them. K played dumb, acting confused, asking them questions in Swedish – though she was fully healed, and had her full facilities back, she had stuck to the foreign tongue simply to feign ignorance. It had worked beautifully too. For instance, the doctors and guards didn't censor themselves with her since she didn't understand English. So far, she'd heard already the name of the woman who shot her, the fact that Magneto had hired her, the plans that they had for Logan once this mission was complete and Magnetos' total disdain for the feral mutation. She'd also learned that she had a possible ally in Wanda if she could approach her properly. So far, she wasn't quite ready to leave her father's side – though if she heard the rumors correctly, Wanda was just looking for a reason – any reason. It was difficult for K to keep her anger in check on the days that Magneto chose to spend nearby her and the little ones, watching them interact. In fact, the only thing that kept K from taking a shot at the big man herself right now was the simple fact that he did not trust her one iota. Any time she was in the same room as him, her bones vibrated ever so slightly – tipping her off not so subtly that he was highly guarded around her, ready to incapacitate her in the very least should she try anything off color.

The guard in charge took a deep breath, reaching into his front pocket to pull out a note card and tried to tell K – in the worst Swedish she'd ever heard – to please follow them. She stared at him a moment, the poor man wondering if he'd screwed it up entirely until K smiled and agreed, Abbey holding on to K's pocket while she carried the little ones with her. Something bad must have happened to Logan.

…...

In the mansion, Logan was livid. He knew he was being manipulated, but not by such an insane margin.

"I gotta get back there and gut that sonofabitch." He growled out.

"No Logan – THINK. You're the last person that needs to take on Magneto head on. Here." Scott handed him his flash drive back "There's your intel. It's slightly modified. Magneto wants to make an example of someone. Hydra wants the research to use for their army, and he believes the UN is going to give it to them. The only problem is that there isn't any research anymore. We took care of that – thoroughly. So you know, there's been a silent coup in SHIELD. A small army of Fury's best and brightest led the charge, and to give you an idea, they hardly have enough personnel to run one helicarrier right now. Infiltration ran deep, and half the board is now in jail. Fury's got it under control, Psylocke has been helping him, posing as his right hand man, scanning the minds of every single SHIELD agent or support man. He _will_ require seeing both of you when this is done. Just make sure they make it to the drop point so SHIELD can capture. Logan, we need you to do this right. You know what you can lose if this doesn't work – and our way is the only one that lets you keep what you have." The two men stared at each other a moment. Logan was feeling responsible for far more than was necessary, of course. "Oh, I almost forgot. One last thing." Scott said off handedly before he hauled off and decked him.

"The hell, Summers?"

"Well, you have to _look_ like you fought your way out, right?" Scott said with a grin as Logan's face fell.

"Now wait a minute," Logan said, Scott cutting him off before he could protest, blasting him across the room.

…...

Magneto was rewatching a feed of the Mansion – from when Wolverine had been captured. There was no mistaking the venom in Cyclops' voice as he addressed his prisoner. He was troubled. The intel Logan was to retrieve was pivotal to the big picture. His recruitment campaign needed to show the severe abuses that the powers of the world had committed against mutant kind. Rumors of the Weapon X program, and others like it, had gotten to the level where most mutants thought them to be urban legends told to terrify them into compliance. Showing the world that these things had been done, were still going on, and that the people it was done to did not consent, and simply wanted to be normal, peaceful people, families even … well, that could certainly start a revolution. He debated sending in a second team to distract for Logan to escape, or to simply take the intel themselves and leave the Wolverine to his fate. He could always turn over the woman and the little ones to Charles later. After all, they hadn't betrayed their team. They had no choice in it, and Logan had done well bringing them as he'd asked him to, even though he'd tried to leave them out of it by leaving them behind, relenting only when Magneto ordered him to bring them along.

"We're waiting to see if your husband gets out of this little mess he's in." Magneto told her, as the guards ushered her into his chamber, K acting as if he were talking to someone else as she looked around the room. Secretly, Eric was entertained at her apparent obliviousness to what was going on around her. Her personality since she'd awakened was absolutely charming. She was cheerful, unless frightened, and then she seemed ready to run or hide. He couldn't trust it though, having seen first hand what the woman was capable of. When she made no reaction but to finally smile at him, he gestured for her to take a seat nearby, the little ones in her wake. He watched them play, thinking of his wife, Magda and his own little ones, now grown, and how much he'd missed of their young lives. His train of thought interrupted when the radio crackled with Logan's gruff voice echoing over the waves.

"On my way. Hit some trouble, but I'm out." Logan said, Magneto grinning. When Logan arrived, he was a wreck – uniform shredded, dried blood and something familiar in his hand as he handed the flash drive to Eric's attendant.

"What is that?" Magneto asked, his eyes locked on the object in his hand. Logan got a seriously savage smirk on his face, his eyes flashing as he answered.

"Souvenir." he growled out, tossing it toward Magneto. He picked it up, his eyebrows furrowed as he studied it.

"You …. killed Cyclops." Magneto said shock in his voice as he examined the ruby visor … three claw holes and blood splatters on the inside of it.

"What, you gonna miss the guy? He was a pain in the ass." Logan replied. "You said get the intel. I got it. You didn't say anything about collateral damage." Ah, the drawbacks of using a savage.

"This won't sit well with Charles. You've just made things very difficult for me." Magneto said. Logan shrugged.

"Not a mind reader, Mags. Job is done. You need somethin' else, or can I take my family outta here?" Magneto was shaken as he nodded, telling him to return to his room. He reviewed the intel in silence, only calling for Wanda and Pietro when he was ready for them.

…..

Logan refused to say anything about the mission to K – preferring instead to simply hold her tightly. She comforted him as best she could – clearly his stress level was reaching massive proportions. A few days later, Magneto's daughter rushed in, pale and upset.

"You have to get out of here – NOW, Logan. I called Xavier, they're supposed to be on their way." Wanda told him, picking up one of the little ones to help them run. "Father found out the whole thing was a set up. He's going to make you suffer unless we get you guys out. _Hurry._" The trio ran along the corridors, nearly making it to the little jet that Wanda had waiting for them when suddenly K couldn't move. She looked at James in her arms, panicking. A few steps ahead of her, Logan was frozen in place too, Abbey looking at him curiously – what was wrong with Daddy? Wanda spun on her heel when the two ferals stopped, her face losing all color when she saw her father holding the two of them in place.

"Father – don't! It's not right! You can't do this again!" she called out, rushing to K and taking James from her arms. Before she could get to Logan, however, he'd been dragged to Magneto's side.

"We had a deal, Logan. You were to serve me as I ordered until I released you. I have not done so, and the information you 'stole' from the X-Men was false. Did you think I wouldn't discover your deception?" Magneto snarled at him. Abbey clutched to her father, terrified of the white haired man next to her.

…...

The X-Men were nearly there. Charles had them gather after Wanda's call, but he was truly on edge now after catching Abbey's projection. Something bad was going to happen to her parents, but she didn't know what. Charles had a fair idea, and he didn't know if he could keep Logan together should Magneto repeat removing Logan's adamantium, let alone if he did it to both of them.

…...

"Lord Magnus, the X-Men are approaching. What would you have us do?" one of the Acolytes said suddenly as he stared into Logan's wide eyes.

"Let them come. Clearly they didn't learn their lesson from last time we met like this. Do _you_ remember how this ended last time, _Wolverine_?" he was clearly furious, Logan's fear betraying him in his eyes. Magneto looked pleased.

It wasn't long before Charles made his appearance with his small band of X-Men, Magneto telling his followers to stay back unless directed, the large group of them lining the walls of the room in case they were needed.

"Eric, let them go. They only want to be a family. You remember what that's like, don't you?" Charles said, mentally telling Abbey to come to him, but Abbey wouldn't budge, terrified for her parents and only wanting her father. Wanda brought the twins to Charles' side, both of them thrilled to be near their 'other' family, and both wishing they'd thought to stay as Abbey did. Magneto spread Logan's arms out, prying the little girl from around his neck, Abbey screaming 'no' and trying to get back to him.

"You don't need to be near him for this, little one." Magneto said to her quietly, Abbey fighting him and crying terribly as she pushed to try to get him to set her down. The whole of the X-Men horrified as Logan began to panic. Particularly when he realized that his wife floated next to him now, mirroring his position, their fingertips just barely brushing. "She didn't do anything wrong yet, but I can't have her coming after me either. I know how you animals tend to react to things." Magneto said as he held Abbey close, trying to be sure her eyes were hidden, holding her little face into his neck before he started to tear her parents to pieces. Simultaneously, both felt the tiniest tug as Magneto tested his hold on the metal covering their skeletons. As he focused his eyes on them and began to look more grim, they tried to prepare for the pain, proclaiming their love to each other mentally as they braced for the worst when with no warning but the scream that echoed the room, the pair of them dropped to the ground, seemingly unharmed. Magneto fell to his knees, throwing the little girl he was holding toward her parents, blood running down his neck through his fingers, a sharp snap echoing when Abbey hit the ground. When he fell, Charles did what was necessary to stop him in his tracks, pausing every other soul in the room outside of his X-Men while an inhibitor was placed on Magneto. Logan got to Abbey first. The little one had a splash of blood down the front of her shirt, eyes closed from hitting her head when Magneto tried to get her away from him, her arm angled out badly, clearly broken. The team rushed in, Wanda aiding them as they gathered the little ones up, Logan cradling Abbey in his arms, Hank trying to assess her on the go as they rushed out, Wanda joining them – refusing to remain with her father's disciples one moment longer, the man himself now on the blackbird, unconscious.

The team was in shock at little Abbey's action. Once she was deemed stable by Hank, he pushed her upper lip back, shocked as he shook his head. Yes, tiny feral indeed. Her canines were already rather pronounced and clearly incredibly sharp, her handiwork apparent as Hank dressed Magneto's terribly shredded neck – his carotid nicked when she bit him.

She would wake up a few hours later, Hank insisting she stay in the lab seeing as her healing abilities were not fully developed, and the child had suffered a concussion in addition to the broken bones in her arm. Logan dutifully insisted on holding her while she was there, the little one crying when she woke in pain, curled up on her father's broad chest, his heavy hand on her back as he held her close. She'd need another x-ray before they could set the bones – it seemed she was developing claws like her parents, and though they weren't fully formed yet, two were broken along with both bones in her forearms. Surgery was going to be required for her, something that amazingly, both parents wanted done immediately to preserve whatever function she may have one day with her claws.


	21. Snyapses, Damage, and Isolation

K was sitting in a window seat in Xavier's study. She was a bit depressed after hearing the reactions that some of their friends and family had when they'd left and Charles had given her free rein to use his study to get away from the whispers and stares. Right now however, she was staring at the trashed visor that had once belonged to Cyclops, damaged beyond repair by the three claw holes directly through the ruby quartz. As she was pondering her thoughts, the door creaked open and Scott came to take a seat next to her.

"You alright?" he asked, bumping her shoulder with his. She looked up at him with a sigh, nodding her head.

"You know, he didn't tell me right away that he didn't actually stick you. For a minute there, I thought you were dead." She admitted. He smiled genuinely.

"Well, gee, from the way you were telling me to curl up and die, I'm shocked." Scott laughed.

"You _do _know I never meant that, right?" K grumbled. "I'm glad you're alright."

"Me too." Scott replied. "Never thought I'd say it, but we really missed you guys. You ready for the big meeting?"

"With Fury? No. Not really. I don't know what he wants."

"I guess you'll have to figure it out when you get there. Come on, Logan's waiting for you." He told her, offering her his hand. "It's a shame about that visor. I really liked that pair." She smiled at him and let him guide her, meeting Logan on his way to the ready room where the couple would have to take a meeting with Nick Fury – part of it they knew to be about their recent brush with Magneto, part of it they suspected to have something to do with Logan's sudden resignation from the Avengers, but K still felt there was more they'd have to answer for.

…...

Logan pulled out a chair for her, taking a seat directly to her left, and grasping her hand under the table. She had expected to get an ass chewing, or have to tolerate listening to one directed at her husband. Instead, she was disarmed by the familiar, kind tone that came from the SHIELD director across the table from them.

"How are you feeling, K?" Fury asked, actually looking concerned. "I understand you lost an entire language for a few weeks? Is that correct?" She looked to Logan a moment before nodding her head.

"I'm fine, honestly."

"I'm gonna go ahead and call bullshit. I can't help but think that's a standard answer from the two of you. McCoy says you're been nauseous. He also says that may fade in time. Has anyone done a mental evaluation yet?" he asked. K was taken back by the question. She hadn't considered that there could be a problem until he brought it up.

"Charlie has it planned." Logan said, surprising K. "Wanted her to settle back in first. He's concerned it may have knocked loose some hidden triggers." Fury nodded his head.

"Get Xavier to clear you and I could use a solid operative for a few missions here and there." Fury said softly.

"Not by herself." Logan replied. "No solos."

"She'd have a partner." Fury replied. "I know you can't stand the thought of her on her own with bad guys around."

"Hey, who says I even want to do this?" K asked, looking between the two men.

"You're in the system now. Your abilities are known, and you're proving yourself in areas that you were not trained or programmed to do. Now, that either means you've had more training than you know, or your programming was more extensive than was written up. In either case, you got too much knowledge to be sittin' home playin' June Cleaver. You took on some nasty hitters already, and held your own. No reason to not get some benefits from it." Fury summarized.

"June Cleaver?" K said horrified. "That's a cheap shot, old man." Fury smirked at her.

"By all accounts you got no business callin' me old." he replied.

"A gentleman doesn't mention a lady's age." K answered, doing her best attempt at haughty.

"And gentlemen like that haven't been around for nearly fifty years. You're showin' your age just by that." he countered. K had to laugh a little. He had a point.

"Officially, I have to offer you a position on staff. The few board members that weren't part of the problem _did_ see what you are capable of before the information disappeared or changed. Unofficially, I wouldn't put you on any mission without your husband or someone he trusted completely. I know you think I'm a pain in your ass, but Logan and I actually go way back. You've been good for him – for the most part." Fury said candidly.

"I'll have to get back to you, I suppose. You know – in case Charles discovers I'm a total psychopath." K replied. Logan wrinkled his brow at the idea that she might accept an offer. He was kind of counting on her flat refusal. Fury let out a deep breath, a kind look on his face.

"Well that's better than a no." he replied before turning his focus to Logan. "Glad you're on the side of the angels again, Logan. Just knowin' you were out there for those other guys had some of our best operatives hesitant about runnin' into you in a dark alley." Fury said before leaving them to themselves. After he left, K turned to her husband.

"So, I need a mental evaluation now. Are you worried?" she asked, not knowing herself on what to think of it.

"Nah. I knew you were nuts when you agreed to marry me." he teased, earning a smile as he squeezed her tightly to his side.

…...

Charles was perplexed by K's evaluation. Both she and Logan were worried about damage affecting her personality. They knew there was some memory loss, as expected, the extent of which was yet to be determined. He found a few of the mental blocks that were in place before were damaged or missing entirely, new memories of old abuses and traumatic experiences seeping into her consciousness. When Scott asked her for a re-evaluation of her fighting abilities, he was surprised that now, her programming did not simply kick in as it had before for some things. She now had to make a conscious effort to remember what to do. That wasn't a problem for the hand to hand portion of things, and certainly no problem for the training that Logan had done with her, but the things that she just 'did' before took her a few seconds to remember, and while the telepaths breathed a sigh of relief for the moment, Logan took it as a challenge to train her more to his liking.

"So what do we tell Fury?" Scott asked while they watched her fight Sabretooth below.

"The truth. Her programming was damaged. If he really wants her, she needs to relearn some things if she's going to work for SHIELD. Some of that garbage is better left behind her though, far as I'm concerned." Logan replied. Scott nodded in agreement.

"What about the guns? How do we test that?" Scott asked. "We don't have a range and I know you don't have much here." Logan sighed as he watched her move. She looked like she was having no trouble keeping up with Creed. He flicked on the intercom. "Quit playin' with him, sweetheart. I want your best." Logan told her, shocked when she took her eyes off Creed to look up to the booth and nod, Creed launching himself at her when her head turned. She ducked his assault and appeared behind him, remembering this time to slice his spine before giving Scott some nightmare fuel when she then jumped on his back and began to smash his face into the ground until he ended the simulation. She was moving a little bit different, more like she did when she was on auto pilot – smooth, flowing and making shredding and disembowlment look feminine. As if there was no lull in the converstaion, Logan reached over and added Daken to the room for K. She dove into him immediately.

"I'll talk to Stark. He's gotta have some way to test, or the means to take her somewhere. We need to test her sniper abilities, close combat fire fights, and I'd like to see her on an infiltration scenario." It took Scott a second to realize Logan was answering his question from a few minutes earlier.

"As she is now, she's fit for our team if she wants it." Scott told him, Logan tightening his mouth and nodding. "She seems to have gotten her kill percentage down significantly. I'm guessing it's because she isn't just flipping over to the programming. Now she's thinking about what she does, even if it's fast – there is thought there not just mindless slicing and stabbing." If Scott didn't know any better, he'd think that maybe Logan didn't want her on the team.

"Yeah. We'll talk about it." Logan said under his breath as he leaned over the controls next to Scott. Without any warning, he tossed in Jean, Scott, and himself to aid her in her fight with Daken – then threw in Cyber, Deathstrike and Deadpool just to see how she'd handle it. Of course, the program he'd used was one that didn't just target her, but those illusions that were on her side too. She didn't realize that part though until Jean was slashed by Deathstrike. K's head whipped over to them and she hesitated a fraction of a second assessing the situation. In that moment of hesitation, Cyber gutted her holographic husband and Deadpool flat killed Cyclops with a single shot to the head. He felt a faint whisper through the bond before all hell broke loose. She lost it. Daken didn't last her long, even when Cyber turned his attention toward her. When the two focused on her, survival instincts kicked in and she tripped into a berserk rage, no growling or screaming as Scott was used to seeing from Logan, just undeniable fury. When the holographic Jean sat up at the wrong time, both men were prepared to see K remove her head, when at the last possible second, she pushed her to the floor with her boot milliseconds before lunging with her claws where Jean's head was to stick Daken. The men were pleased. Logan more so when she didn't hesitate to attack Deadpool, who had previously helped them. She could distinguish who was on her side in a fight when she lost it – something that both men knew Logan had to concentrate very hard to do.

"Keep this to yourself, Slim." Logan said suddenly. "I want to be sure of what she wants to do. I don't want any pressure on her to join anyone."

…...

A week later, K found herself with her husband headed to a private Military style training facility where they were to meet up with Stark and Rhodey. The place they were using was old, no longer used by the military for modern training regimens, but Stark had arranged to re-fit it with some newer scenarios. The last thing they wanted was to bring the two ferals onto an operational military base. They could have gotten away with bringing Logan in – he had Avengers status, but K? Restricted, and sure to raise suspicions.

Stark was there to greet them, smiling at them both and making a point to give K a hug.

"Are you still the sweet sexy girl that likes large caliber weaponry, or did Magneto screw you up?" Stark asked her. She shrugged looking noncommittal to his question.

"I don't know … what have you got for me today?" She answered as Stark slipped his arm across her shoulders, leading her away from Logan as he told her all about the line of goodies he had in store for her. She glanced over her shoulder at her husband, who was starting to look grumpy as the billionaire got cozy with her. The testing went well, K making her way through all the exercises with minimal pausing. It looked as though she was starting to heal even some of the lesser damage to her memory now.

"Got any exploding targets?" she asked to Tony's delight and Rhodey's disapproval.

"No, we don't do that. Man. Logan's right, you are a troublemaker." Rhodey replied. "Looks like you pass. Anytime you want to go to the range, you call me, and try not to get yourself picked up by the bad guys again, got it?" K nodded, almost shyly as she sat up from the prone position she was in where they'd ended the sniper evaluation and pushed her hair behind her ear. Logan thanked them for their time and help, K echoing his sentiment as the two of them headed back, his arm around her, his hand shoved into the back pocket of her jeans as they walked. He didn't think to tell Stark to keep it to himself, so he knew that Fury would know exactly where K stood with a firearm at least.

Charles hadn't given his blessings yet, still wondering if some latent subliminal message had been cracked open by her injury. In light of the severity of it, Hank had been working with Forge to alter some Shi'ar scanners so they would be able to assess her or Logan better should either ever come in with an injury to their brain again. When they got back from the range, it was ready, after weeks of tinkering.

"Are you sure this isn't going to laser my head off?" K asked, looking a bit skeptical as Hank held her hand helping her to lay back on the exam table.

"Yes. Quite sure. Forge's calculations are rather precise. Now please, don't move. We're going to try to see how badly you were injured, and if you've healed fully." Hank replied, K staring at the device in front of her face nervously as the good doctor retreated from the room. When the device fired up, K's heart began to race. She didn't seem quite as terrified as before. A short moment or two later, it wound back down as Hank re-entered the room, offering her his hand to sit up. A short few minutes later, he stared at the scans open mouthed. K saw several strange looking pathways across the picture, but it meant little to her.

"You've sustained damage to every single portion of your brain. How it knitted itself back together, even with your incredible healing and regenerative abilities is quite astounding. I'm afraid this will take very extensive testing to see where you stand. I'm sorry to say." he sounded downhearted.

"Will you be doing the testing?" K asked nervously.

"Of course, my dear – who else?" she let out a sigh and gave him a bear hug.

"As long as it's you, I'll be fine with it." Shocked, he returned her hug as he realized she wasn't panicking in his lab at all.


	22. Outside the X-Men

"In short, I believe she is 98% the same person as before at this point. Her scans are showing that her reflexes, pain responses..." Hank started to say, properly prepared to launch into an extensive dissertation on K's current health and well being.

"Hank, cut to the chase – what's the problem here?" Logan said, cutting him off. Hank sighed.

"No problem, necessarily. Her flight response is not what it was." he answered.

"Meaning -"

"She's more likely to stand and fight than she is to run."

"Huh. Well, that explains a little from our training sessions." Logan mumbled mostly to himself. The training he'd started with his wife was more than satisfactory. Before she'd been reluctant to do things his way, fighting him every step. Now, she wasn't hesitating to attack, and she rarely backed down from a challenger – even him. She didn't always win, but she didn't do nearly as much of the evasive maneuvers she had before that tended to get her into more creative ways to solve her problems. The problem being that now she was more likely to get hurt in a fight.

"Charles has already given her the green light, Logan. You two have my blessings as well now that I've run literally every test under the sun twice, and even thought to come up with a few of my own." Hank said to him as he set his glasses down on the counter he leaned on. "Now, I'd like to talk to you about your daughter."

"Hank, I told you"

"No testing. I understand, but perhaps you _don't_ understand. She's not yet five. She has shown bursts of what I am sure will be a phenomenal regenerative healing ability in time – just like her parents. However, the claws have me concerned." Logan sighed as he took a seat. Hank had tried for weeks to corner him on this. "They aren't healing properly. I can try to re-set them, but if they don't heal right, they will likely never work as nature intended them." There was a pause between them as Logan thought it over. Knowing what he did, he didn't want her to be without her natural defenses.

"Alright. I'll talk to K." Logan said heavily. "Abbey will be down in the mornin'."

…...

As it stood, Abbey's abilities were still years from being anything that she could count on. So far in her young life they had kicked in sluggishly only on a couple occasions. The first time when she wasn't yet a year old and busted her lip open, and the second when she bumped her head in Charlie's office. She had a great big goose egg on her forehead for all of an hour before it and the large purple bruise that went with it disappeared. To say that the adults in her life were disappointed that it hadn't decided to kick in when she broke her arm would be an understatement of massive proportions. Auntie Jeannie had practically refused to set her down the day after Uncle Hank had put her arm in a cast, cuddling her and making over her. Uncle Scooter was just as bad. Mostly, it seemed, they were upset because should her claws not heal properly now, they may not be functional when she needed them later, and to make matters worse, Uncle Hank had no idea how to be sure it would be fixed up.

"Cut mine open and have a peek, Henry." K suggested as she tipped back her mug, Logan grimacing at the thought.

"I'm afraid that won't work. Abbey's are not developed fully. That's where our concern lies. It would be similar to if a child broke their leg near a growth plate – that bone simply may not ever reach it's full potential if the growth plate is damaged. That may be what we're looking at here." Hank explained. By afternoon, all of Hanks' tests and scans on the little girl were back – one of the claws had indeed healed oddly. The general consensus though was to simply wait and see if the problem would resolve itself. It certainly wasn't bothering her now, nor would it until she was able to use them.

…...

Logan and K were enjoying a rare quiet moment alone, wrapped up in each other, just inhaling each other and reveling in the feel of each other. Nothing sexual … really. K had drifted off, and Logan wasn't far behind her when the door knob started to turn. He turned his head toward the noise, and before he could react, K was picking her head off his chest, searching for whatever poor soul had just interrupted her quiet time with her husband.

"I thought you two were going to get back to me sometime this year." Fury's voice rang out.

"Ya know, just for this interruption, I'm far more likely to tell you to fuck off and not come back." K said, sleep in her voice. "and to think, I was actually toying with the idea of liking you a little bit." He smirked as he made himself comfortable, raising his hand to signal that the two shouldn't bother getting up from where they were seated together. Logan sighed as K rearranged herself a bit, though still tucked into his side quite snugly as he kept his arm around her back.

"What's up, Nick?" Logan asked, his voice a little groggy too. Taking a deep breath, Nick actually did feel bad now for interrupting them.

"Oh, you know. The usual. Superhero business. Come to see if your lovely wife was up to goin' on a little mission for us." he replied. The couple looked at each other a moment. She'd already been going on runs for the X-men for a little over a month. Logan had even relaxed enough to see her off on a few two man runs, though he was still reluctant to let her go on a solo. She had one planned, but he didn't know about it yet.

"What is it?" K asked, Logan's arm tightening ever so slightly around her.

"I could lie and say it's an easy one, but if it was, I wouldn't be scoutin' for talent." Fury began. "Thing is, it's kind of near your old neighborhood, and no offense, but that place is hell on our tech." K nodded in understanding. A large portion of upper Michigan had always been considered hard on tech. The large amounts of iron and copper still in the ground there had always interfered with various technology, even if the military had tried to use some of those same properties to help their ELF system in the 1980's. The locals all knew about it, and rumors had persisted for years that something else was going on in those military outposts and bases scattered throughout the region.

"This doesn't have anything to do with project Sanguine, does it?" K asked. Logan turned his head to her, eyebrow raised. What the hell? Fury shook his head.

"No. No, this is more to do with supernatural rumors and some of our field agents going missing entirely."

"Why were your agents there, Nick?" Logan asked. Fury looked to his feet. Sharing information was particularly painful for him to do. Sharing more than what he thought was necessary was excruciating. Getting past these two – the questions they'd ask for the safety of each other? Maybe it wasn't worth it.

"They were investigating some odd happenings out that way. Mysterious creatures crawling through the woods, things like that." He replied, "Here are the files, if you want to read up on it." He added, looking pained to be parting with his precious information. K picked it up and leaned into Logan as the two of them scanned through it.

"This sounds like the same old Bigfoot sightings." K said critically. "Everyone up there knows big-foots' just a drunken naked Canadian that lost a bet." Logan's mouth dropped and he reached down to pinch the hell out of her, making her jump. "Hey! Common knowledge, mister!" Fury smirked.

"No, we're not talking about a drunk Canadian – yet. That would have to come later. This is an actual drooling, snarling beastie." K just shrugged at him.

"Still sounds like" K began.

"Shut up, woman." Logan cut in.

"a drunk Canadian."

"She wakes up like this?" Fury asked. Logan was irritated as he nodded his head. She was baiting him. She liked to do this just to get him half way fired up, then she'd blow his bad mood by doing something that would end with him forgetting what he got mad about as they got tangled up.

"Aren't _you_ Canadian too now, K?" Fury asked. K bristled.

"I don't like you very much, Nicholas." K answered, Logan smiling at her now. "As for your mission – I'll take it, but only because I was already planning on going to my cottage, and it's near where you want me to go." Fury smiled at her.

"Alright then. I'll have your partner for the mission here tomorrow morning. Be ready to go." Fury said as he stood up.

"Wait a minute. Who's her partner?" Logan asked as Fury turned to leave. He stopped and raised an eyebrow before he answered.

"I'm sorry, I should have clarified earlier. Partners. K, you'll be a guide for this one for Stark and Thor."

…...

Fury left very soon after that. Logan was livid. He'd expected … well, he didn't know what he'd expected, but he sure as hell didn't want her in the cottage with either one of those two yahoos, let alone both of them.

"Sweetheart, it's fine, I swear. Come along if it bothers you that badly. No one will make a move." K offered. Logan considered it, thinking maybe that was exactly what he should do. Unfortunately for him, the com went off a few moments later. Scott needed him to join him on a recon mission in South America. She smiled at him sadly as she leaned in to kiss his chin. "You have a mission of your own to keep your mind off it now." She continued to kiss him along his jawline, trying to calm him down. She didn't realize how differently the Avengers handled things compared to the X-Men.

"Don't like this." Logan growled. The corner of K's mouth tightened. He wasn't going to go easy.

"You can always come out when you're done in Brazil. You know how to get there." she said easily, nibbling on his ear. He started to relax just a hair.

"What about Creed? You can bet he knows where your place is now. I'm sure Clara clued him in."

"You think I can't handle him? Even with Iron Man and Thor on my side?" K asked as she unbuttoned his shirt. "You taught me better than that."

"Would you quit tryin' ta seduce me and just talk to me a minute?" Her hands froze on his belt buckle.

"Trying? You mean it wasn't working?" K asked as his hands closed around her wrists.

"No. It was working just fine. You do that when I get mad and I don't want you distractin' me." he answered. Damn. He figured her out. "You can't do that every time, sweetheart." She shrugged one shoulder up.

"It wasn't _every_ time. Just when you were getting mad at me." She replied.

"Not mad at you. Just don't want you out there alone with those two."

"They are your team mates, right?"

"Yeah, but"

"But nothing. They wouldn't do that to _you._" K said. "I'm not even an issue here." He conceded that she may have a point.

"Alright then. I'll be up there as soon as I'm off this mission. If you guys get done, wait for me, alright?" he said gently. She nodded.

"Colors should be really good in a week or so." she said with a smile. "Call when you know you're on your way." he agreed then let her hands go finally, pulling her belt loose and dragging her to bed.

…...

K packed her duffel bag and slung it over her shoulder. Logan was walking her up to the house with the little ones. Abbey was holding K's hand as they walked up, Rose on her hip, James with his father. As they reached the front doors, Stark arrived. The little family said their goodbyes to K before the little ones went with Jean and Kitty, Logan not ready to say his goodbye until the last possible moment.

"Alright! You ready to go do a little scouting?" Stark asked, rubbing his hands together with a grin. K just leaned into Logan as he tightened his arms around her, her face buried in the crook of his neck. "I'll take that as a no then."

"You guys meeting Thor here?" Logan asked. Stark shook his head.

"No. We're meeting up at her place. Fury told him where it was." Stark replied. Logan got a shiver up his spine as K carefully placed a kiss behind his ear before whispering to him to take off his flannel. He pulled back enough to look at her and kiss her while he complied.

"Um, there are other people in attendance here … could you _not_ jump him while I'm standing here? Please?" Stark said as he quickly turned his back to them. "You're going to give me nightmares." Logan rolled his eyes as he said good bye to his wife, wishing her luck and praying she'd be careful. She did the same for him before they finally parted ways.

The drive to the cottage was long and uneventful. Stark had originally wanted to fly, but K put the kibosh on it seeing as there wasn't an airfield long enough to handle a jet outside of Marquette – and they'd need a car after that anyhow. Smaller jets that could take off and land vertically were out too seeing as they were trying to be sneaky. When they got to her place, Stark was stunned.

"It's so cute. So … woodsy and so – you." he said, staring at the waterwheel as it turned. She shot him a glare as she reached into the backseat to grab her bag.

"Let's get set up already." she said tiredly, walking up to the cottage door and opening it up. On stepping in the door, she turned immediately into her bedroom and dropped her bag on the bed, running into Stark in the doorway as she made to leave her room.

"So are we bunking together?" he said with a grin, K taking a step back as she didn't expect him to be so close just then.

"No. You can take one of the rooms upstairs." She said, slipping past him to show him the way. He followed close on her heels, commenting on the view as they climbed the stairs. When they reached the top, she opened both bedrooms and told him to take his pick. Both were bright and open with windows that opened over the wraparound porch. He smiled and predictably took the larger of the two, dropping his bag and heading back out to the SUV to pull in his computers. By the time she got down the stairs, Thor was already helping him. She left them to it and decided to take the initiative for once, calling up Bill before he showed up and had a run in with one of her roommates. Hell, he might even have some information on those sightings.

…...

She broke away from the two men, leaving them to set up everything required for their investigation while she met up with Bill at the bar. He didn't want to talk on the phone about what he'd seen, and frankly, she was concerned for him since they'd left his place last. When she stepped into the bar, all was fairly quiet. There was just a few of the old timers there, and Bill was in his favorite booth. She waved to the bartender and made her way over to him.

"Sorry we left in such a rush last time, Bill. I hope you didn't have anymore trouble when we took off." K said as she arranged herself in the booth.

"No, no trouble." he replied, watching her closely. "How are you doin' girl? You still with that wild husband of yours?" K nodded.

"Yeah, all's fine on the western front. I'm out here on some business though."

"You're not sellin' are ya?" he cut in, looking upset, relief washing over him as she shook her head.

"No. This is kind of an extension of what Logan does. I'm here with a couple of his um, friends. We're lookin' into some I don't know - sightings I guess you'd say? You hear anything about some weird stuff in the woods lately?" she asked as the bartender set down their usual. Bill studied her hard a moment before taking a deep breath.

"This about them government fellas that went missin' a few weeks back? The ones with that SHIELD outfit?" he asked, already knowing the answer before she nodded. "Them guys got the Avengers, don't they? Why are you out with 'em?" She looked at her hands a moment, rubbing the spaces between her knuckles. How much should he tell them? He only knew she healed quickly. He didn't know the rest of it.

"They needed someone like Logan – that knew the terrain around here." she said quietly, her heart pounding as she looked at him, hoping he wouldn't flip out on her. His eyebrows went high before he reached across the table to cover her hand with his.

"Alright then. I'll get the right people together to talk to ya. We shouldn't do it here though." Bill said low. "Can I bring 'em by your place in a couple days?" K considered it.

"Can they keep their mouths shut?" K asked.

"Why? Who you got out there?"

"They gotta be able to keep their mouths shut, Bill. I don't want any trouble. I'm only here on a trial basis for these people."

"Yeah, sure. They ain't told anyone but me about what they saw. If they think your husband might go after them, they'd shut it anyhow." Bill replied. K nodded.

"Alright then. Only trustworthy ones, and bring 'em to the sand pit, say Friday. I don't want a bunch of people at my place and the guys with me have some stuff to look into before we talk to anyone." K replied. One thing she'd realized from the SHIELD reports was that they'd discounted the locals information, preferring to reinvent the wheel as it were – find their own incidents and not listen to the people around the area. K knew who to trust and who not to … and she had an edge on the agents that had tried before her. She could smell deception. The two of them parted company and she made her way back to the cottage to tell Stark and Thor they needed to get casual to talk with the locals soon.

…...

When she returned to the cottage, the two men were arguing. Stark wanted to find the outpost and retrieve the information, Thor wanted to hunt the beastie now.

"I can't believe I'm actually saying it, but Stark is right. We have to go to get the intel first. It's the only way I'm going to get a whiff of whatever the hell it is out there." K said, turning to Thor and shaking her head. "Sorry, but we have nothing to go one without it, or I'd be with you on this one."

"Think nothing of it. I'm simply looking for a good fight, and hoped that this creature would give it." Thor said with a smirk. Within the hour, the trio had found their way into the remote outpost that SHIELD had set up. It was trashed. Tents destroyed, all their equipment shredded. Stark went to trying to salvage what he could while Thor and K began to look into what it might be. The trees bore five slashes on them ten feet off the ground and a solid four inches between each slash. Thor began to hypothesize what it was that was lurking in the deep dark forest around them.

"Are you sure there are no dragons in this realm?" Thor said, examining the slashes in the tree.

"No dragons that I've ever heard of." K replied, kneeling at a broken branch and picking up a tuft of long white hair. She held it to the light, examining it as best she could before gingerly bringing it nearer her nose. "Woah. Yeah, that's not a wolf either." K said, her head reeling at the strong wet, musty and musky smell the fur held. Stark came up behind her holding an empty vial.

"Drop it in, K. No telling what it is." he said seriously. She had no trouble ridding herself of it, though now the stench clung to her fingers where she'd lifted it. She didn't want to rub her hand on her jeans either. That smell would bug the hell out of her all night if she did. It didn't take Stark long to gather up what he could, and by the time he did, K had already started down a trail, the stench of the beast far too easy to follow. She was nearly out of sight when Thor called out to her. Without much thought to it, she simply turned back around, looking over her shoulder as she went back to the two men. There would be time to track later. She felt that even a heavy rain wouldn't wash that stink away.

…...

The men were playing poker. K had started out playing too, but when she realized how badly they cheated, she threw her hands up and left the table.

"Come on, K – if you don't want to bet cash, we'll accept clothes!" Stark shouted out. K huffed in response, snatching a beer from the fridge before slipping outside and starting up a fire. Once it was going good, she made her way back in for a moment, finding the two of them arguing over another bad hand.

"OK – you didn't play, you tell us – if I busted him cheating and my hand was _still _better, I win anyhow, right?" Tony asked, the two of them getting far too serious. She cracked open her second beer, tossing the cap into the trash when she glared at the both of them, turning around and pulling the rest of her six pack out before heading back outside.

"You both need to forfeit since you cheated too, Tony. Hang up the damn cards, shut the hell up and come outside." K suggested. It was another twenty minutes before they took her up on her suggestion, Stark still bitching as they came outside. K shushed him, which, of course he ignored until she whipped an empty bottle at his head, shushing him again. Startled, and barely ducking in time, he gave her a dirty look as Thor grinned at her, the two men taking seats around the fire as K sat on the edge of her chair, listening intently. When Tony opened his mouth again, she gave him a death glare as she raised her hand, closing her eyes and listening hard. The men watched her until her mouth tightened and she shook her head slowly.

"Something's out there. I can hear it. The wind's the wrong way though. You wanna go look for it?" she asked, low, a twinkle in her eyes.

"In the dark? Yeah, that doesn't seem like a horrible idea at all. We have next to nothing on intel on whatever it is, and you want to go poke it with a stick in the dark? Is that right?" Stark asked. K shrugged.

"It's what we came here for." she replied, tipping her last bottle back.

"Though I came for a fight, the mission is to simply discover what happened to the last group and gather information, yes?" Thor said, both of them staring at him a moment, the bottle still to her lips as she froze, listening again.

"Then we better go in. Whatever it is is circling the property." K said, almost too quietly for the two men to make out.

…...


	23. Recon Only

By the next evening, Starks' computers had finished their analysis of everything he'd gathered from the SHIELD site. Nothing was conclusive. Amazingly, Fury had actually checked in on them, wanting a sit-rep on their progress, telling them they'd be wise to not hunt it after dark until they knew what they had on their hands. K was quickly getting tired of his out of character approach. He was hells bells when it was normal agents and operatives out there getting shredded, why was he holding back on the super-powered ones, unless he was handling her with kid gloves? It was plain to see that they really hadn't expected this to be anything but a fluff mission even if they'd assigned her with two of the team members. The more she thought on it, the more irritated she got. As soon as the communicae ended, she slipped on a hoodie and an orange hat, heading out the door.

"Hey! No hunting!" Stark shouted.

"That's funny – I was sure it was no hunting after dark. I still got a few hours. Follow if you want, but I'm headed out." K answered as she shut the door behind her, his swearing easy for her to catch behind the door as she slipped into the woods. The sound of his armor coming together was hard to miss as she nosed down the trail. Frankly, she didn't give a damn at this point. She kept going until she caught the scent, and as she'd figured, it had circled the property. She found where it went deeper into the woods and followed it at a brisk pace. It was nearly dark when the scent began to get very thick. Clearly, whatever it was had bedded down here, deep in the heart of the swamp where the moss was thick and soft, and the dead ferns tall even as they were dried up and curled over. She stood at the edge of the bedding area, a chill running down her spine as she scanned the area, looking for any signs of life. It was unnaturally still – no birds or squirrels making any noise here. She slowly backed out a few yards before turning to head back, looking over her shoulder occasionally as she felt as if something was watching her. She wasn't far down the trail when Tony touched down in front of her.

"Grab on, honey, we gotta get back. NOW." he said and for a second she was ready to tear his helmet off and slap him until she heard the growl echoing around her. She turned around, looking for the source, ready to let her claws fly when Tony simply wrapped an arm around her, pulling her tight and took off.

"Hey! I found the damn thing – put me down so I can take it down!" K shouted as she wiggled and pushed against his armor.

"No can do, sweetie. You have a meet and greet with those witnesses in less than an hour – no way you can do that after going a few rounds with the big thing I've got on my sensors. I'll show you the heat signature when we get back, but _you_ aren't supposed to engage. It's just recon, remember?" he told her as she sighed. Yeah. She remembered, but after spending three days holed up with these two, she'd had her fill, and someone was going to get stabbed. She didn't care who it was at the moment, but someone was going to get it.

…...

The time had come finally for meeting Bill and the other locals at the sand pit, and K was regretting agreeing to these two as partners. They were oil and water, and far far too much testosterone for her liking – both of them trying to offer her their advice on the entire situation at hand.

"Listen, you both don't need to go. One should be more than enough to baby sit me." K said, her arms crossed.

"Yeah right." Stark replied, angry with her already for finding loopholes in the outlined assignment. "Fine. I'll go with. Thor, you stay here. You talk too funny to interact with people." Stark said.

"Do I sound that strangely, to your ears still?" Thor asked. Tony took less than a second to start busting his chops before K had to step between the two.

"Both of you, or neither of you can go, I really don't care.. Just – stop the nitpicking. You're driving me nuts already." K replied, looking irritated as she stalked off to her room, closing the door behind her. Thor had tried several times to talk to her, every single time interrupted by Tony and both of them were getting short tempered. There was no conversation that Tony hadn't found a reason to interject himself. She wasn't in her room more than two minutes before Tony was knocking on the door, letting himself in.

"I didn't catch you indecent did I?" he asked with a grin, his smile fading when he realized she was still fully clothed.

"What now?"

"Just reminding you _again_ that you aren't supposed to go after this thing. Recon only. Leave the heavy hitting to us." Stark said seriously.

"Is that from you, Fury, or Logan?"

"Yes." he replied as he leaned in the door frame watching her fume. "You saw it on the monitors. It's got to be over ten feet tall. If you haven't added that up, that's twice your height, short stack." he said seriously. "If anyone is going to go head to head with it, it's going to be me or Thor." If looks could kill, he'd have been dead where he stood.

…...

When K pulled up to the sand pit, she was surprised to see at least a dozen trucks there. She recognized only about half of them, though once she started seeing faces, there wasn't a stranger in the crowd to her. She looked at her two babysitters as she slowed the SUV to a halt.

"Be the strong, silent type, got it?" K directed, the God slightly offended at her tone. "And you," she said, turning to Stark next to her. "No showboating, ya get me?" Stark nodded with a smirk. Was it possible she didn't want to be embarrassed by them? She turned off the ignition and slipped out of the vehicle, flanked by the two Avengers. In the low light, none of her old friends and bar buddies recognized them – at least not right away. Before they could get too far into it, one of the men in the group rushed forward and picked her up in a bear hug.

"Jeez, K – we thought you were gone for good – goin' on the run was bad enough but to come back married without lettin' us give him a hard time first? Ya traitor." the grizzled blonde said.

She laughed in response, giving him a little pat on the back before he released her. "I need to know if you fellas have seen anything weird out here. Well, weirder than normal." Tom's face fell as he took a step or two back.

"Well, sure. But – who are these fellas with ya? Don't trust no government types." Tom replied.

"We aren't with the government." Tony cut in. "We're with the Avengers."

"Way to keep it low key." K said, rolling her eyes as she turned to look at him, a few of them making the connection now. Tony just shrugged.

"This is serious then, eh?" Bill asked, hands on his hips. Tony nodded in response.

"We wouldn't be here for a Bigfoot sighting." Tony told him. The men that showed suddenly looked spooked.

"We know this isn't nothin' like that. Been all kinds of livestock and even a handful of hunters disappearin' as of late." One man offered.

"Strange sounds in the woods." another added.

"Joe swore he saw some kind of monster when he was setting' up his stand – only problem is that he won't tell no one where it is. Says the buck he's after is out there and he's not letting anyone see it."

"What kind of monster?" Tony asked – Bill shrugged.

"Big, hairy – teeth and claws and all that. Shredding' everything around it. Indians haven't been hunting much this year either. They probably got an idea of what it is. But, K, honey - what the hell are you doin' out here with these guys? Healin' quick or not, a nice girl like you shouldn't be messing with monsters." another threw out. As the stories began to flow, comprehension dawned on Tony's face as he put together the pieces of the puzzle. Between the eyewitness accounts, the damaged data he'd retrieved, and the massive heat signature he got when he removed K from the swamp, he figured it out.

"She's with us - trust me, she's fine. Oh, hey - I know what this is. Oh man. Hey, fellas -don't go out after dark. I'm not kidding." he said to a tall lanky man standing behind Bill that was looking at him as if he was nuts. "I know what this is, and it is really nasty." he said turning to K. "We need to call your hubby in. He knows the right people for this one." K was confused.

"What the hell did you need me for then?" she spit out. Tony shook his head as he put his hands on her shoulders so she was sure to get her full attention.

"This is not an insult to you, trust me. Kid gloves off, we need him to call in some of his _old_ teammates. The Hudsons …. _that_ group." he said before leaning in very close to whisper to her _I think they have Wendigo troubles, and Logan will kick my ass if you go after it. _ "The Hudsons probably won't do it for _you _either, we'll need him too." K scowled at him, but before she could truly protest, he pulled out his cell and had already dialed him, walking away from the crowd a bit. K turned to the men that had gathered to tell their tales, and listened as they went into detail. She'd never heard of a wendigo outside of the stories she heard as a kid, and she sure wasn't going to say anything to these guys about it. Then Joe pulled up late to the party. He jumped out of the truck with a laptop and set it up on the hood of the SUV.

"I remembered I had a way to show you the monster, K. Sorry I'm late – but I had to get in there and get my trail camera the other day – here. I got the sucker on camera." Joe told her, pale and clearly nervous as he opened up the files. The first dozen or so showed the usual trail camera crap. Raccoons, little deer, a few bears …. then something definitely odd. Tall, hairy and pale, long limbs and a face that walked out of a Stephen King book – drool dripping from it's elongated canines as it stared toward the lens, clearly infuriated. Damn thing had to be every bit of twelve feet tall. Tony looked over her shoulder, cell phone still at his ear.

"Yeah, Logan – I'm sure. They got it on camera. No. No I didn't …no. I told her to wait. She hasn't. Jesus, I said no, didn't I? No. We haven't done anyth.. here – damnit, I'm not your secretary. You tell her yourself." Tony barked out, shoving the phone to K.

"Yes, love?" K said sweetly as he began warning her to keep her ass in the cottage until he got there, and that he was on the way. "As long as it doesn't show up on my porch, I'll wait for you." she sent him her love before hanging up the phone while he continued to shout on the other end then turned to face the wide eyed men around her. Taking a deep breath, she handed Tony the phone back and leaned against the bumper.

"I may have ticked him off a bit." she half whispered to Tony before turning to the men still waiting to hear more. "So. Apparently, that's a wendigo, and shooting it doesn't do any good – so don't try it. You'll just piss it off. My husband is calling in the right people. Apparently he has experience with one of these. He advises everyone concerned to stay in after dark and keep out of the woods for a few days." K said. "For your own safety. Honestly." before one of them could say anything to argue, she put her hand up to tell them to wait. "I know deer season is on, so here's the deal. Stay in, and if you'd like I'll stick around long enough to track for you. Scout's honor." she said, looking at all of them in turn. That seemed to turn the tables a bit. The group as a whole agreed, and they all went their separate ways, the two Avengers quiet on the way back to the cottage.

"I'll let Fury know what the problem is. I'll wager a guess that his operatives are dead then." Tony said, looking grim. He'd known one of the women on the last team. "Maybe Thor can just leave then. I don't think lightning will help our operation here." K turned to look at him a moment.

"If that's the case, you can probably go too. I'm sure Logan and Shaman can do it without you." K replied as he bristled.

"No, I need to keep an eye on you. Make sure you don't wander off in the woods."

"I'll stay for the fight, Stark." Thor replied, still jockeying for a good brawl, and irritating Tony sounded like fun to him. They made their way inside, and K offered them both access to the liquor cabinet as she made herself more comfortable. Tony took it as a cue to try to get her drunk. It was likely to be a long night.

…...

It was nearly three in the morning when K woke up. After a few hours of the two men shoving vodka at her, she'd left them to themselves and simply went to bed. She sat up in the dark, unsure of what it was that woke her. She opened the door to her room finding the living room empty, the fire crackling low in the wood burner. She padded over to it, throwing in another couple of logs as she looked around the room. Something was very off. She strained her ears trying to figure it out when it suddenly hit her. The familiar low rumble and creak was missing. The water wheel wasn't turning. She quietly headed to the front door, slipping on her shoes as the fire crackled and popped.

"You're not going outside are you?" Stark asked, startling her. She stared at him wide eyed.

"Jesus. How the hell did you sneak up on me?" she asked, pulling Logan's flannel a little tighter around her and stepping back from the door.

"I was standing here when you threw the log in. You're not going out there are you?" he repeated.

"I thought I'd take a look at why the wheel stopped."

"Don't even think about it. My perimeter alarm have been pinging for an hour and I've been watching the monitor. Something is testing it's boundaries, but I can't find it. Besides," Tony replied. "Logan will kick both our asses if you go out there right now. He was very clear about waiting."

"That really doesn't scare me, Tony." K replied, turning back to the door.

"It should. Blow this one and you can bet you'll never leave the house without a chaperone again."

"You're exaggerating."

"No, I don't think I am." he said, leaning against the back of the couch. "He's completely done taking risks with your well being. He's no fun when he thinks you might die on him. That last little trip with Magneto … he was ready to quit the whole damn thing." She took a few steps toward him, arms crossed over her chest.

"Come on, Tony. He loves what he does. You don't expect me to believe -"

"Yes I do. You didn't see him. I did. Just get back in bed. I'll keep watch." She opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off before she could start. "I mean it. Bed. Now. Logan will be here before you know it. Cut the man some slack and be waiting for him – unharmed and asleep, and god help me for saying it, but I'd want my girl naked when she knew I was coming in." She narrowed her eyes and took the dozen or so steps to him.

"You care about him." K said. Tony scowled.

"I care about being held responsible for a woman whose husband has a legendary temper, so shut up and go to sleep." he replied. She studied him for a moment and when she realized he really wasn't trying to give her a hard line approach – he actually looked sincere – she nodded her head and wished him sweet dreams. "I'll keep watch until the alarms quit pinging. If something goes wrong, I will let you know." he promised as she waved over her shoulder at him, reluctantly going to lay down. She waited there, in bed until she was sure he was asleep before heading toward the front door again.

She slipped out silently, wrapping Logan's flannel shirt around her tightly as she snuck around the corner of the house, cautiously peeking around the corner before taking a silent step. The creek was rushing around the wheel, over flowing around the stone walls that held it. In the bright moonlight she saw the problem plain as daylight – a branch was jammed through the spokes of the wheel against the stone walls keeping it from turning. It wasn't broken at all. She wrinkled her brow, realizing someone would have had to have done it purposely. Her heart raced as she took an instinctual step backwards. Didn't Logan have some little concern in the back of his head about Creed creeping around – and here she was in little more than her underwear, barefoot. She had just made her mind up to turn around and slip back into the house when she heard a noise in the woods off to the right behind her. The wind was still and she couldn't scent it, so instead she gingerly began to back toward the front door. She was nearly there when the little deer stepped out of the brush. _Jesus. _She thought to herself _I've been in civilization too damn long if I'm letting a deer spook me. _She straightened up and relaxed before stepping back into the house and wiping her feet. She wanted to go poking around still, but looking at the clock, she knew she'd have to listen to more bitching if she did. If she wanted to greet her husband without a lot of angry growling going on, she'd have to behave a tiny bit longer. She thought of what could be a very fun hello and slipped into bed, where it took a good while to start to drift off.

About the time she had really fallen asleep, she was startled as the mattress sunk behind her, someone's cold, heavy hand slipping from her hip up her shirt as he settled in behind her. Without thinking, she hauled off and jammed her elbow back, catching him just under the rib cage. He grunted as she whipped her head around, immediately regretting her action when she saw Logan's face, breathless from the quick shot, even as he slipped his hand back across her belly, pulling her close while she whispered out apologies, slipping her hands into the hair on the sides of his head, kissing him all over as she tried to make up for it.

"It's fine, darlin'." he said as she peppered him with kisses. "I shouldn't have tried to sneak in without wakin' ya." He was actually pleased she'd reacted how she did, considering. Aside from showing him that she was on guard, her apologizing as she kissed him was a rare and golden thing that he wasted no time taking advantage of.


	24. A Hitch in Hunting Season

Thanks for the follow, Sarahemily - hope you're enjoying it. To all reading/following, as always Thanks so much - and on we go!

* * *

"When did you get here?" Stark asked as he made his way to the coffee pot, his brows drawn as he watched the two ferals curled up together on the couch.

"Few hours ago. Thought you had security running." Logan replied. Stark looked troubled.

"I do – So how did you get past it?" he asked. Logan just shrugged. Damned if he knew what was wrong with the tech. He didn't even try to be sneaky when he came in, though he was sure an alarm would have gone off as he snuck around the house and the surrounding woods before he came in.

"This damned area. Screwing with everything that's not on the suit." he mumbled to himself. Thor had already left, scouting ahead in the woods after he cleared the branch in the wheel. Apparently, K wasn't the only one that was bothered by the lack of the squeaky wheel.

"Alright. Enough screwing' around. Shaman will be here soon, go get changed, sweetheart." Logan said, slapping her thigh just above the knee as he made to stand and change.

"But, she's not supposed to do anything but recon." Stark said as Logan pulled K to her feet.

"Yeah right. Are you new here, Stark? Have you _met_ her? She isn't going to sit and wait for us, and frankly, I don't know that I won't need an extra set of claws to bleed the bastards out." Logan replied looking totally confident in his statements as his wife bit her lip weighing his words. Stark looked shocked.

"But we can do this without her help, I'm sure of it." Stark said.

"Well, I'm not so sure. There are two out there, and you and Thor still don't measure up to the Hulk. Read your files, Stark – it took both the Hulk and I to take down _one_." Logan replied as he followed K into the bedroom. "Probably gonna take all of us." he said as the door closed, finally beginning to make peace with the fact that K did indeed seem to be as durable as he was - though he still wanted to protect her from everything he could. It was in his nature to try to keep her safe.

"I can call Banner!" Stark offered. There was no response for a few minutes as Logan ignored his offer, his attention on his wife as she zipped up her uniform.

"No." he shouted over his shoulder, his eyes not leaving her body as he stripped down. "Banner may be willing, but I doubt Hulk will be. Last time was out of necessity." K turned to look at him as he talked, smiling as she watched him. When he was nearly done she made her way over, slipping her hands under his shirt as she landed a kiss on his chin. "Woman." he half growled. "We got work to do. Gonna be hard enough without having you distractin' me." She gave him a quick kiss and the two made their way out of the cottage, Shaman was waiting for them outside with Stark and Thor. As they were making their plans, reviewing what they'd learned and Logan telling them what to expect, Bill pulled up, shaking his head slowly at the costumed crowd in front of him, Logan pulling his gloves on as the truck came to a stop.

"Wow." Bill said, shaking his head slowly. "Just come by to let you know that Joe disappeared. His brother said he went to check a camera and didn't come back. His truck is where he left it." Logan nodded his head and turned to K.

"You know where to go?" he asked, not familiar with the area yet. K nodded as she pulled her hair back. "Well then, lead the way, darlin'." he said with a smirk. Stark was about to have a fit when she smiled back to her husband, giving him a quick kiss before he pulled his cowl on. "Bill, you can stay here if you want, but I think you'd be best off if you went home. K'll give ya a call when we're through here." Bill nodded and wished them luck as the two ferals slipped off into the woods silently, Shaman on their heels and the two remaining Avengers taking flight as they planned to circle around and try to spot it on their own.

K kept a quick pace, partly following her old trails and partly simply sniffing out the pungent scent that hung in the air where the beast had been through. Logan watched her work, grinning to himself at how she moved, so similar to his own style, yet with a different fluidity. It took him a bit to realize that he should have been concerned for her, but watching her as she would leave the scent trail to cut across easier traveling terrain, only to pick it up over the next hill. She was running nearly a straight line through the woods toward where the man had disappeared. She easily cut their tracking time in half just by knowing where she was headed. They stopped near the swamp when Logan reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Hold it. We're in it's bedroom." he said, taking over the lead position as he stalked through the ferns. K hung back as Shaman caught up, resting his hand on her shoulder as he stood just behind her. It was his way of making sure she knew to stay back and let her husband do his thing. After he disappeared into the deep ferns, Shaman cautiously stepped around her, following Logan's general path in an attempt to not lose him. K leaned against a tree wondering if she'd be needed, watching cautiously as the two of them worked. They weren't there for long when Logan called out for a hand. He found Joe – part of his arm was missing, the muscles torn from the bone, slashes across his face and chest, blood soaked into his clothing. He was barely breathing and deathly pale when Logan called for Stark to take him for assistance after Shaman tried to cleanse his spirit from any residual effects of his encounter with the wendigo.

"If his body can heal, he will be fine." Shaman said quietly as he sat back on his heels next to the man. Stark nodded in acknowledgment before flying the injured man out of the swamp. As he cleared the trees, an angry roar echoed around them. Logan and Shaman both were at the ready to do battle with the beast as it burst through the brush on the far side of the swamp. It charged Shaman, but before it could reach him, Logan launched himself at it, claws and fur flying as the two clashed. The speed of it was astounding. The massive white furred creature dwarfed him as he tried to evade it's claws and snapping jaws, slashing at it as he dodged, both of them bleeding badly by the time Thor jumped in to join them. K had to take cover as the thunder crackled overhead, knowing what was coming next as Thor seemed to be engulfed in white hot light seconds before channeling lightning at the creature. Logan barely hit the ground before the wendigo was electrocuted, shouting at Thor to take it easy.

"That's still a person, damnit!" he snarled before trying to restrain the creature while Shaman started his work, evicting the wendigo's spirit from the poor soul it had possessed. It took both Logan and Thor to restrain him as he woke up – apparently the magic Shaman was working was painful. The creatures' agonized howls echoed in the trees and rocky outcroppings of the forest around them, painful to the feral's ears. Stark made it back in time to step in and help to hold it down as it's pain and thrashing crescendoed. None of them heard the growl of it's companion, their focus purely on the task at hand until it burst through the clearing, rushing at them.

K saw it just as it made it into the swamp and rushed at it while it's focus was on it's companion. She didn't have time to consider her actions as she jumped, grabbing a low hanging branch and using it to launch herself at the beast, slamming into it as it barely saw her, not enough time for it to react until after she'd cut it solidly. The second beasts' pained howl caused the men holding the first one to look to the sound, horrified as K tried to hold it back from them, at the very least distracting it from its' goal.

"Can you two hold this one?" Logan shouted to the two Avengers, Stark assuring him that he could, firing up his repulsors to force the creature to hold still while Logan let go, rushing to K's aide just as the beast made contact with her, flinging her across the swamp. He completely lost his temper when he heard the tree she hit crack. It knocked her out cold and she fell into the soft moss, waking a few moments later to the most vicious snarls she'd ever heard coming from her husband, who seemed to have forgotten his own warning to Thor from minutes before about the wendigo being possessed humans. His savagery was breathtaking. He had certainly let his inner beast out, the three men finishing with the first now half transformed man all pale faced as they observed the fight, Shaman trying hard to focus on the task at hand, nervous with his back to the action as the battle waged on, but confident in his old friend's abilities. When the beast got a lucky shot at Logan, slicing his belly wide open, Logan hardly missed a step as he sliced the offending arm free from it, the beast's howling fresh as K gathered her feet under her and got to Logan before he could chase after the now severely wounded creature as it retreated, breaking brush and howling in the darkness. She laid her hand on his shoulder and he turned to her, his face twisted in rage until he saw her, pain finally permeating through his psyche as she got him to ease himself to the ground, a bloody mess. He took a deep breath as she leaned over him making an attempt to help fix him up as he kept his eyes to the sky until she was finished.

"Don't chase it, darlin'. Wait for me to heal." he rasped out.

"You're gonna get yourself killed, you stubborn ass." K mumbled as she cleaned him up. He smirked as he allowed himself to look at her when she sat back on her heels, worry etched onto her features as she fussed over him.

"Look whose talkin'." he countered, his hand resting on her hip, urging her to scoot closer. "I wasn't the one that got flung across the damn swamp."

"No. You're the one that didn't have the fool sense to stop when they got gutted." she replied. Shaman made his way over to them, assessing his old friend's wounds as they healed up.

"The spirit of the wendigo is gone from this one. When you're ready, we'll need to find the other one quickly." he said, Logan nodded then laid his head back in the moss. As much as he wanted to jump right up, he knew he'd be back down on the ground if he didn't at least let the skin close up properly.

"Have Stark get him outta here." He said gruffly, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes a moment while he waited for his belly to finish stitching itself up. K kissed his forehead and walked with Stark to the injured man. He wasn't anyone she'd ever laid eyes on before. The two of them quickly tried to stabilize him before Stark flew him off, the bleeding from the fight simply not wanting to slow.

"Damn it. Save a piece of the fight for me." he grumbled. "Good luck. I'll be right back." She made her way back to Logan who was just now sitting up and cracking his neck, stiffly working his way to standing.

"Ready to hunt this thing, sweetheart?" he asked, smirking at her. She wondered what he was up to, searching out his end of the bond before answering and finding that he was worried for her, but totally confident in her abilities. She smiled warmly before leaning in for a quick kiss and leading the charge for the beast, jogging down the trail he left, blood on the leaves and ground easy to follow. The signs were easy to see, but the brush got thicker as they went deeper into the woods. It was pitch black by the time K stopped, a low growl echoing against the rocky outcrop behind them. They'd inadvertently cornered the wounded beast. Logan quickly stepped in front of K, Thor at his side when the snarling rose up again, the echoes making it that much harder to pinpoint, though Thor's lightning did help to see it for a second.

"No more lightning, damnit!" Logan growled out, temporarily blinded as the creature backhanded him into the rocks. Thor got his chance to go head to head with it finally, Mjolnir's strikes ringing like a bell as it made contact, though not slowing the beast down much. As Logan gathered himself, K shook her head hard, finally adjusted to the light before she rushed into it, clambering over the blonde God and launching herself from his shoulder like some psychotic massive cat, finally finding a way to release the feral tendencies easier, slicing into the beast when she made contact, hoping to bleed it out quickly. With it's attention on K, it wasn't much for Thor to grab it's arms and wrench them behind it's back. This creature was quite a bit smaller than the first and though it struggled, it really only took Thor's muscle to subdue it long enough for Shaman to get to work while K went to check on Logan.

"Can't fucking see straight. Must have been too damn close to the lightning." he grumbled as he rubbed his eyes. He hated healing eyes. Not much worse than being blinded, even if it was short term.

"Does this mean you need me to take care of you?" K teased, leaning in to kiss him, Shaman's ceremony nearly finished. He chuckled at her, but took advantage of her offer.

"Smartass." he grumbled back, eyes closed as he leaned on the rocky face of the cliff that he'd hit. When the spirit was excised from the second wendigo, the creature shrunk down into a woman.

"Well, that's a first." Logan grumbled as they stared at the shredded, bleeding woman at their feet. He felt badly about the thrashing he gave her, knowing she wouldn't likely be able to reattach the arm she'd lost. Thor took it on himself to remove her from the woods, promising to have Stark meet them to discuss how this had come to be. K gingerly took Logan's hand and started to lead him back, Shaman finding his own path back easily. Stark was waiting when they returned, martini in hand.

"So, these jokers did indeed feast on the flesh of man," Stark informed them. "The guy admitted to it – said they got lost from a hunt and panicked. Their buddy had fallen and they apparently are really bad hunters. Fury has them on the helicarrier. Said he didn't want them in a civilian hospital. Only thing that gets me is that I didn't think this thing happened outside of Canada."

"There are old stories all around the great lakes. I always thought it was just a story though. You know – old style cautionary tale against cannibalism. I guess this explains why all the northern tribes stories line up so well." K offered as she inspected the remains of her uniform, irritated that now that she'd finally gotten a uniform that fit her right it was thoroughly trashed. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but the missing sections were pretty glaring. Shaman confirmed K's information then sat down with Stark to handle the requisite debriefing and report filing, in a hurry to get back to his home north of the border, telling them that he'd have to notify the tribal elders in the area so they knew what had happened. While they did the paperwork, Logan went to change and K picked up the phone in their bedroom to call Bill and give them the all clear as she unzipped her tattered suit.

"Yeah, we can talk about it tomorrow." K said wearily. "I'll be around for a little while anyhow." They said their goodbyes as Logan raised an eyebrow at her.

"How long you plannin' on staying?" he asked, dropping down on the bed.

"I promised to help them track their deer if they followed your rules and kept out of the woods. I guess Joe doesn't get any help from me this year." she replied as she shimmied out of her suit. "Hopefully the boys will be quick about it." He nodded and made his own phone call, informing Jean that it would take them a bit of time still.

"You don't need to stay with me." K told him "I'm fine here." He shook his head as he pulled her close.

"I told ya. I don't want you here alone. You're just gonna have ta put up with being stuck with me. Alone. In the woods. I just hope you got some ideas for entertainment." he growled.

"Hey, lovebirds – are we staying the night?" Stark asked from the next room over.

"NO. You're getting the hell out. Don't give a damn where you go, but ya can't stay here." Logan shouted to him.

"Oh, I see how it is. Thanks for your help, but get out, there's sex to be had." Stark grumbled.

"What's the problem, Tony? Didn't you marry your fiancee yet?" K asked as the two of them stepped out of the bedroom.

"No. Not yet. PR issues and whatnot. No good way to keep it on the down low and she doesn't want a fiasco." he complained. Logan shook his head and clapped him on the back.

"Call Kurt. He'll help ya." Logan instructed as he pushed him toward the stairs. "But right now, you need your shit outta here so you can GO." The two men cleared out all the equipment he'd brought with as K took a shower. Logan would need one too, she was sure and there was plenty of mud and mess in her hair from the fight in the swamp. When she stepped out, Logan was stripping to hop in.

"Get back in there, woman." he growled as she shook her head at him. Of course, he refused to take no for an answer, snatching off her towel and dragging her with him.

…...

After the fight they'd been through, all involved were worn out, but as usual, Logan had taken the brunt of the beating and as soon as K got him to fall asleep, he crashed hard. She wasn't too far behind him, curled in tightly to him, as she drifted off, listening to the creaking of the water wheel now that the branch was cleared. She was surprised then when she was awakened by a knocking at the front door. Usually, she'd wake up hearing the vehicle come down the trail. Logan picked up his head, insisting on getting it himself, pulling on his jeans as he made his way there. He wasn't shocked at all when he saw it was Bill.

"You guys aren't still in bed are ya? It's near noon." Bill said, shocking Logan a bit. He never slept that late. Checking the clock he realized how worn out he must have been, particularly since he hadn't really rested up at all from the quick mission he had been on when Stark called with questions about the wendigo.

"Well, we were. Gimme a sec." Logan said, his voice thick from sleep. He poked his head in the bedroom where K was already pulling on his flannel.

"Grab me a shirt when ya come out, sweetheart. Bill wants to talk." Logan told her, turning back to the kitchen to brew up some coffee while the men waited for her to step out. Bill for once, didn't know what to say to the grumpy man in front of him, who at the moment looked like he'd be perfectly happy to simply go back to bed for a few hours. After seeing him in uniform the afternoon before, he suddenly felt unable to chit chat with the man. He'd done some reading on the X-Men since they last met and he had a pretty clear idea of where that sense of danger he always felt around Logan came from now. Bill started to smile when K stepped out until he saw she was in a similar state of wear when she handed Logan a shirt with a kiss.

"You two alright?" Bill asked, half laughing. He was familiar with Clara's healing process, but it was one that rarely showed seeing as she avoided injury rather carefully. K nodded as she stole Logan's coffee, yawning widely.

"Great. Whats up?" she said finally, leaning on the counter next to her husband.

"Well, the guys have already been in the woods. We talked it over, and they don't want ya to track." he told them. The two ferals looked at each other a moment, K showing the shock on her face. These were the same guys that wanted to pay her to track before.

"I don't understand –." K said quietly. Bill shook his head.

"All they want is to meet the fella that stole you away. You two just be sure to get down to the bar tonight." Bill told them. "They don't know what you do, Logan, and I'm not gonna tell em. I'll go with whatever you say." Logan nodded slowly, he didn't see any trouble in that, and he could keep her to himself for a few days anyhow before they went back to Westchester. Hell, he was almost looking forward to giving her old friends a chance to try to get him drunk.


	25. Never Give Up

Their trip to the bar was exactly what K had figured it would be. Her old friends were trying _very_ hard to be welcoming to Logan, though somewhat cautious of him at the same time. Bill had kept to his word, and not busted him out, but it didn't matter. A few of the older men who watched the news all the time recognized him straight out. How many times had he lost his cowl after all, or simply not bothered to hide who he was? The conversation quickly turned to what he did for a few moments, then took a turn, picking on K for 'needing' to pick a superhero instead of a regular guy. Clearly a few of them were still bitter at not being given a chance – but that ended quickly when Logan put his foot down. They could pick on him if they had the stones, but he wasn't going to listen to anyone try to get after her, lighthearted teasing or not, he wasn't having it.

When Logan had more than enough of being social, he simply grabbed her arm and led her out while the festivities continued in the background. It was clear that all those in attendance, outside of the little couple that is, was feeling no pain. They slipped out of the bar and he helped her into the jeep, not wanting to go all the way to the cabin before he got to covering the bar stink on her with his own scent. When he turned the opposite direction of the cottage, she looked at him questioningly, but the smoldering look he gave her in response just set her off.

"Turn here." she said, her voice low. His smile widened and he followed her direction, the little half hidden dirt road leading to a little used spot near the big lake. He barely got the jeep parked when she jumped out, leading him down the rocky beach to a spot that she'd always liked, but never shown anyone. He didn't bother asking where they were, he just took a hold of her, urgency pushing the both of them as they frantically stripped each other, the cold October air biting into their skin already. The lake was fairly calm, the waves rolling onto shore rhythmically as the two of them just ran with what they were feeling. Hours later they watched the sun rise right there at the lake before taking one more round and making their way back to the jeep, K quietly directing him on where to go for coffee. He'd kept her plenty warm throughout the night, but she longed for some hot coffee and a few hours curled up naked with him in bed, of all places. They didn't take more than another day at the cottage, however. Although the quick break was nice, they were headed back to reality where their little ones were cheerfully awaiting them.

…...

The return to Westchester was quiet, unheralded. Fury was, predictably personally pleased with how the little mission had ended, but on the record, he notified the powers that be that she didn't follow orders well, and was as unpredictable as her husband – recommending that she'd need a longer record with the X-Men before he could green light her for Avengers duty. Logan was pleased. The weeks passed quickly and before they knew it, Logan was into his old habit of glancing at the calendar.

"Please relax." K said one afternoon, landing a tender kiss on his Adams apple.

"He's gonna make a move on you or the kids. I just know it." he replied. His tension had been slowly mounting since the mission they ran with Creed.

"And I'm just going to play the damsel in distress? Come on, sweetheart. I got your back." she replied easily. "If you're nervous though, we can see if there's a place for us in the house for a while, see how that goes. The kids would be closer to help if they needed it, and we wouldn't have such a target on us if we were already there – no second chance for a sniper." she offered. Logan nodded. He hadn't felt that his little family was nearly as safe anymore since she'd been shot. It flat shouldn't have happened. The fact that it did still made him sick when they walked past the spot where she went down. He thought the uneasiness would fade, but he found his eyes glued to the spot every time he walked past it. For some reason he couldn't find the words that quite fit what he was thinking. The thought of it happening again, or one of the kids catching it was too horrible, and real. As for Domino? He still hadn't gotten a chance to let her know where he stood. She knew he was pissed off, and frankly she was avoiding him like the plague. K had little to no recollection of the event itself. She knew it happened outside the mansion, but she didn't know where or how it went down. She did however know who had done it, and had been planning for a while on going to introduce herself to the woman that shot her. Domino was going to have more than her luck broken when K got a hold of her. She didn't care that the woman had a past with Logan, or that she was hired for the job. K took it totally personal and wasn't going to be happy until blood was shed. It was truly rare for her to get an axe to grind like this. She could remember maybe only a handful of times in her long life that she really had held a grudge, but this was at the top of it.

…...

Charles breathed a sigh of relief when K asked him over tea if he thought it would be alright for them to find a place in the mansion. Had he the ability, he would have picked her up and spun her around. Instead, he beckoned her to follow him, leading her down a little used section of the mansion where at the end of the hall lay what could only be likened to an apartment.

"It wasn't originally this way, but I had it changed after one of our impromptu remodeling efforts. I believe you can actually thank the Juggernaut for this particular wing, though honestly, I thought it would be Jean and Scott as it's first occupants." Charles told her as she walked around the room in awe. How did she miss this in the years she'd been there? "No one ever comes down here. I scarcely think that Scott even remembers what's here." She dropped her shoulders as she approached him, leaning down and kissing his cheek before giving him a hug, accepting his offer. What else could she do? He'd handed them a way to keep their little ones safe and close. They began moving into it immediately.

…...

The little family was settled in comfortably when the predictable happened. The whole institute had been on high alert, Logan insisting that Creed would be making an appearance on or near their designated date. Mid afternoon one day in late November the alarms went off and everyone was told to stay in place as they neutralized the intruder. Logan and the little ones were in the house when it happened, but K and her class were in the barn getting ready for class having just gathered up all their tack. She sighed heavily as they put the tack away, then went to close and lock the doors to the barn, instructing the students to head up into the loft. She's barely turned her back to the door when someone bashed into it, startling her. She rushed up to the students, all of them upper level, all of them in fairly good control of their abilities. Hands open she tried to calm them as they nervously tried to see who or what was attempting to get in with them.

"If anyone outside of the staff tries to come up these steps, blast them into next week."K said calmly and deadly serious. "I'm headed down to keep him away from you." Several of them protested as she turned around and descended the stairway to the sound of the barn door cracking as he pounded it open.

When she turned the corner, it was clear that door wasn't long for this world. Steeling herself and taking a deep breath, she slid her claws out slowly, bracing herself for what was to come, standing halfway down the alley between stalls. When he finally did breach the door, he looked around a moment before his eyes landed on her.

"Long time no see, girlie. Ya miss me?" Creed crooned with a sickening smirk on his face. She shook her head slowly, refusing to blink or look away. "Oh, you just going to try to wait for the cavalry, frail? I can be done here before they shut the system down." She kept her cool, just waiting as he sized her up, confident she could at the least keep him at bay.

"You got a real obsession with my husband. You know, that's unnatural for a guy to worry _that much_ about what another guy does. Do you want to talk about it while we wait for them to scrape you up?" K asked coldly. She wasn't afraid of him like this. Sure, the quarters were a little tighter than she'd like, but she thought that might just help her a bit. A man that size needed room to really do damage right. Suddenly, her focus shifted a bit as she realized the guns were still firing outside. He laughed at the slight change in her expression. "You didn't think I'd come to the party alone, did you?" He chuckled, stalking toward her slowly, his stance going lower as he crept up toward her, readying to spring. She kept her ground, locking her jaw as she braced herself to launch at him as soon as he made a quick move. Just as he was ready to leap, the barn door on the other end of the aisle was bashed hard. She jumped a little, her concentration cracking with the wood of the door as Creed continued to chuckle low, enjoying the look on her face. He knew he had the upper hand and he gave her the chance to see Daken stepping through the door behind her – both wanting her to panic before they attacked. She needed to know how deep she was in trouble before what was sure to be quick fight ended.

"K." Daken said evenly. "You really should have just died last time. Now we're going to have to make it hurt." She wasn't sure who to watch. Creed was merciless, reveling in dealing out pain, but Daken was much faster, and just as cruel. In every simulation, she could handle either one of them, but she'd never tried both together, and to turn her back on either was akin to signing her own death warrant. She knew she was royally screwed. She couldn't help it when a nearly silent 'fuck' slipped from her lips as Daken readied himself to attack too. Creed was too close – much too close to not pay attention to. Daken was closing the gap too. Fuck didn't even seem to cover it. Before she could start to analyze it, Creed lunged when her eyes slid to Daken. She blocked him, only to have him pull her close and rip a chunk of her shoulder out with his teeth. She pushed herself away from him with a scream and right into Daken, who ran her through the kidneys, dropping her to her knees before she lunged forward, both of them giving her barely enough room for the other to move, and both enjoying watching her bleed on the concrete. She pushed herself up, slowly making her way to her feet. They weren't joking. They wanted her to suffer this time out. Panicking, her breathing quick, she held her wounded side with one hand as she panted, blood pouring down her chest where Creed had torn out a piece of her flesh, her eyes darting between the two of them. She could hear one of the students upstairs crying when Daken lunged, slashing her. Instinctively, she tried to move away from him, right into Creed who slashed her from behind. Bleeding all over, her clothes in tatters, she found the tiny bit of middle ground they were allowing her smack dab between them.

"Is this a kidnapping, or a straight up killing? I need to know." she said suddenly, causing both of them to pause for just a moment – and the split second Creed's attack stance weakened the tiniest bit she lunged at him, dropping down as she got far too close, sliding right between his legs as Daken shouted at him to grab her, Creed only ending up with a handful of hair by the finest of margins when she used her momentum to get on her feet, digging hard out of the barn, the two of them hot on her tail, Daken quickly passing Creed and closing on her fast to the sounds of gunfire erupting from the turrets around them. Unfortunately, she hit one of the netting land mines and ended up tangled up _with_ Daken as he tackled her, the two of them a bit too close for him to do the damage he wanted, finally settling on trying to pin her down and strangle the life out of her after he just pounded her face. She fought him hard, not letting up the fight even when he got a hold of both of her hands, jockeying himself so he sat on her chest, his weight making it harder to breathe right, her ribcage unable to expand under his weight as he tried to secure her hands beneath his shins.

"You're going with us." he told her as she struggled under him, her breaths coming quick and shallow. "You know you have to die. Quit fighting me and I'll make it easy on you. A woman isn't supposed to fight this hard." She was shaking from struggling so hard, yet refusing to give him the satisfaction of showing any weakness. As she was bleeding, her vision blurring from the blood, she made a last ditch effort, lifting her head as far forward as she could, she did the only thing she could in the situation. She bit him, catching one of his testicles and not letting go, determined to make her teeth meet. He screamed as he tried to stab her in an attempt to get her off him, anything to make some space between them but got hung up on the netting as a large explosion echoed behind them, flinging Creed past them and into a fresh netting mine, snaring him as he laid unconscious. Daken turned his head, expecting to see the X-Men, shocked when it was K's class that had snuck down from the hay loft and were now trying to figure out a way to hit Daken without hitting K with their combined abilities. The students looked terrified. She struggled for a big enough breath as Daken renewed his efforts, finally getting her to let him go as he tried to smother her, calling her a 'crazy fucking bitch', sure that the students were helpless until his father and the team came down to assist.

"Hit us with all you got!" K barked out to Daken's surprise. "NOW!" she screamed. And to both their shock, they did. Two telepaths reached out with a dose of solid pain toward Daken while the oxygen was sucked from the air around them. Daken's eyes widened in shock as K simply closed hers, waiting for the full attack, knowing that it wasn't over yet. He tried to scramble away from her, unable to make any distance from the net, his claws tangled in it as he tried to cut his way free. Air slipped in close to K, the student responsible terrified of killing his favorite teacher as she lay limp while Daken struggled above her. He dropped down low when he realized she was breathing shallowly, greedily trying to catch a breath, his face next to hers when suddenly the air returned, only to be followed by a blast of fire, engulfing the both of them, burning at the netting that held them before a concussive blast knocked them both out, the whole net with both inside tumbling across the lawn, ending with him on top of her. She barely heard one student stop another from using his electrical abilities, before she rushed near the two charred ferals. Shouting at them, Logan, Cyclops and Beast rushed to them, restraints in hand for both Daken and Sabretooth. When they pulled Daken up, Scott panicked – their flesh had burned together, the sight of the oozing charred mess stretching between them was reminiscent of a horror movie – both of them devoid of all hair and most of their skin, She laid on what was left of her clothes as Scott knelt next to her, waiting for the rest of the team to show with stretchers for the two while Logan put the restraints on the two intruders. Hank and the band of students then escorted Creed to a holding cell, Forge waiting at the front doors with a scanner.

"K, wake up – can you hear me?" Scott said as she fluttered her eyes open. "Well, you're alive. There's that, but damn, you sure have seen better days." he teased. She halfway grinned, coughing as she tried not to laugh. She was already healing, the skin slipping back across the mangled flesh leaving flaky bits of black falling off as her body tried to heal. Looking over at Daken, Scott observed that he too was healing, though not quite to the pace that K had set. Logan quickly made his way to her, not sure where to put his hands as he looked at her mangled burned up body. Jean showed up very quickly with a blanket for her, she was nearly well enough to sit up on her own, the remnants of her clothing still smoking under her in the grass. Jean rested her hand on K's head, shaking hers as she watched the hair starting to grow already. She looked as if she was sporting a pixie cut.

"Happy Birthday, love. Hope you don't mind short hair. May take a while for this to come back." K coughed out as he kneeled down next to her.

"If it means you're breathin' I love it." he replied, picking her up from the ground. The students from her class that had remained were in shock watching her and Logan as he gently picked her up, her angry red skin stretched tightly across her arm as she slipped it behind his shoulder carrying her toward the house. Daken was healed enough now to be covered too, Jean simply putting him to sleep when he made a lunge for his father.

"You don't need the negativity today, Logan." Jean explained. "Though I'm sure we're all dying to hear what vitriol he's got to spread this time, you can talk to him tomorrow. He won't wake until then – I can promise you. My gift to you today." Logan chuckled half heartedly as Jean leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, leaving the couple while she moved Daken to his holding cell.

…...

"I'm so sorry, love." K said as Logan guided her into the shower.

"What the blazes for?" he asked, stopping dead in his tracks as he stared at her. As far as he could tell, she had no damn reason to apologize. She ran her hand over her short hair and gestured to her naked body, bits of burnt flesh and fabric still clinging to her here and there. She looked disgusted with herself, unable to find the words to properly express her take on her image.

"I have to smell terrible." she said, the scent of burnt flesh and hair sticking in her nose.

"It'll wash off." he said. She hopped in the shower, washing quickly and coming out in a towel, brushing her teeth furiously for a good fifteen minutes afterward. He watched her, leaning in the doorway as she continued.

"Something happen out there that I need to kill one of 'em for?" he asked, his mind immediately jumping to something forced and sexual. She shook her head.

"I bit him."

"Creed?" he asked. She shook her head seriously. "Well how bad could it be?" She turned her back to him to rinse her mouth out for the umpteenth time before wiping her mouth and sighing heavily.

"I'm pretty sure I bit one of his balls off." he stared back at her blankly. It was so far out of what he'd thought could be the trouble, he just didn't even know how to respond for a few minutes.

"How.." was all he could manage as she rubbed the bridge of her nose as she hugged herself, her hip cocked to one side.

"I don't know. I really couldn't do anything else and it was right there in my face..." she said, bewildered herself that she'd gone to those lengths. He shook his head, at a loss.

"Well – it'll heal or grow back, I guess." he said, a smirk on his face. "Just promise me you won't do that to me." She chuckled as she smiled, her face downcast. One thing was for sure, the students that saw it happen would have the news of K's nasty bite spread around the school in record time.


	26. Bastards

Creed and Daken awoke to find themselves housed on opposite ends of the Xavier Institute's lowest level in identical cells, both of them designed to handle someone of their particular abilities. Both were wearing restraints on their hands to prevent them using their claws, muzzles to keep them from biting anyone that got too close, and inhibitors that currently were not on that were capable of rendering them unconscious with a non lethal electrical pulse. They had no idea if it was day or night, or what, if anything had happened to them since they'd been detained. Each was about to receive a visitor bearing news.

…...

Daken rolled his eyes and huffed in indignation as his father took a seat across the barrier that held him captive. Logan was mostly relaxed, a stark difference to Daken's tense posture. Logan sighed heavily as he tried to decide how to attempt to reach out to his wayward son one more time.

…...

K and Creed were at the other end of the spectrum. K was coiled tightly, even behind the barrier while Creed couldn't have been more relaxed.

"Look like a different woman with short hair, frail. Any chance this a conjugal visit?" Creed purred out to K's weary sigh.

"You know damn well that's never going to happen."

"Never say never, girlie." Creed replied. "Seems you said you'd never work with me either, but you sure did a fair enough job when we went after Killebrew." She frowned at him as he smiled. "So, ya couldn't keep away from ol' Creed. What brings you to me today, girl?"

"I just needed a few questions answered." K said honestly.

"Not gonna answer anything if I don't get something in return." he growled out.

"I'm not giving you shit." K spit out.

"Sure you will. Besides, I only want you to sit in here with me where I can smell ya." he offered, malice in his eyes.

"No."

"What would it hurt? Can't use my claws to shred ya. Can't bite. Hell, you even got a little button you can drop me with. Do I scare ya that much?" She could hear the smile in his voice as she wrapped her arms around herself a little tighter and looked towards the exit. She couldn't believe she was actually considering stepping in there with him.

…...

"I don't have to listen to a word you say _Wolverine._" Daken growled out. Logan sighed in response.

"It doesn't have to be like this, son." Logan replied. "You could let us help you."

"I don't need your help. You or your little friends. I don't want to be like you."

"I didn't ask you to." Logan said wearily. He figured it was a waste of time to try to talk to him.

"I will destroy everything you hold dear. One way or another." Daken swore again, the threat to K and the little ones crystal clear.

"See, that's the problem. What the hell kind of a life are you tryin' to make for yourself if your only goal is wreckin' mine? What happens if you succeed? What'll you have to live for then?" Logan pointed out. "The family I have now with K doesn't have a damn thing to do with you. Or have you been shadowin' Creed, learnin' how to be the best psychopath you can be."

"That's the whole problem isn't it. You assume that I'll fail, and in the mean time, you just get to try again with another woman – forget that my mother or I ever existed." Daken said bitterly.

"I never forgot. I'd never want to. You got no idea what the hell you're talkin' about - still just spewin' out the lies you were told. I don't blame you for hatin' me, or wantin' nothing to do with me, but I can't ignore you and try to make it better at the same damn time. Tell me which you want me to do and I'll do it." Logan said heatedly. Even if he aged slowly, Logan felt that Daken was far too old to be acting like a snubbed teenager, who was at that moment acting exactly like an angry teen. No real thought behind his anger and hatred, just clinging to it as if that's all there was.

…...

"Why do you obsess over him so much?" K asked Creed candidly. "It's like that's all you have." She was in some way trying to goad him. If he snarled at her and made a play for injuring her, she could leave and not bother wasting her breath or her time with the jackass.

"Told ya, I won't answer anything until you come on in and have a seat, girl." Creed replied, sure that he had her attention.

"I can't do that."

"No, you don't want to do that. But you _will d__o it_ or you're wasting your breath." he said with a finality before turning his back on her. "You can tell Chuckles that I won't talk to anyone else either. I'll just bide my time until I see a chance to break loose." Charles had told her before she'd gone in that she needed to find the answers that Logan couldn't remember anymore, or never knew to begin with. Charles' voice echoed in her head suddenly _Do what it takes,_ he said. _I'll be listening. Don't worry. Hank is on alert._ She looked to the exit and saw her blue furred friend looking at her grimly and nodding. Creed smiled to himself as he heard her punching in her code, her scent filling the room as the barrier behind her closed again. He turned to look at her, enjoying the fact that despite her _looking_ calm, her heart was pounding and her scent was laced with fear. She wouldn't be able to get out now without someone opening the door. He had a captive audience.

"Please answer my question now, Victor." she said clearly and evenly, concentrating hard on keeping the shake out of her voice. He took a seat on the chair, gesturing to the cot nearby, clearly not willing to speak until she sat down with him. Nervously, she did as he asked, finding herself easily within arms reach of him.

"It's his fault, ya know. I was cheated out o' what should have been a good life. He took it from me." He snarled out. "So I made it a point to be sure he never gets that chance for himself." Her eyebrows went up as she realized what he was alluding to.

"So this is over a woman." K said slowly. Creed snarled and glared at her.

"The details are none of your damn business."

"Uh, yes it is. You want to kill me because of some woman you lost. That makes it my business." She knew she'd hit a raw nerve.

"Don't you think if I wanted to kill ya, I'd have done it already?" he spit out. Suddenly she had no idea how to respond to him. She'd thought the whole point of his beating on her was because he planned to do her in. The room was silent, save for Creeds growl as she tried to decipher his meaning.

…...

Logan was getting nowhere with Daken. It was dizzying the way the conversation always came back to the beginning – no progress to be made no matter what Logan tried. Daken was holding on to his bitterness like a lifeline. Finally he simply shook his head and abandoned his attempt.

"You want to talk to me, let someone know. I'll be here in a heartbeat. You wanna talk to someone that can help you and leave me out of it? Fine. Do it. But you're not going anywhere until you figure this out, boy. In case you haven't noticed, we're not handing you over to anyone. You're stuck until you quit acting like a teenager and make a goddamned choice." Logan said finally as he stood and left him fuming in the cell.

…...

Creed had reached a point where he flat refused to answer any more of her questions, but when she made to stand up, he reached over, putting his hand on her shoulder to stop her. She held her breath, unsure of what she needed to do now, calling out mentally for Charles to send help.

"You remind me of her." he said, looking her in the eye. The panic that had been rising suddenly froze her entirely as she abandoned the idea of leaving, curiosity overruling common sense for the time being. She opened her mouth to ask a question when he held up a hand to silence her.

"You want me to tell ya, then just shaddup and listen." He took a deep breath and made a point to move even closer to her, shifting his position onto the cot next to her, his knee touching hers, leaning close as his eyes never left hers while he began to tell her in hushed whispers about the woman he'd loved so many many years ago, and how in his mind, it was Logan's fault she'd met an untimely death.

…...

Logan walked into the lab, frustrated at his inability to even talk to the boy in a civil manner. He was surprised then when Hank wasn't at his studies, instead, staring intently at a monitor.

"Hank – what" Logan started to say before Hank held up a hand to silence him, waving him over.

"She's actually getting him to talk." Hank said very quietly while Logan looked over his shoulder, finding himself instantly alarmed and angry at what he saw.

"What the hell's she doin' in there with him?" he said, his voice starting to rise.

"Logan, please. Charles told her to. He's actually been telling her everything."

"You don't know that. That slimy sonofabitch is probably just lying through his teeth." Logan growled. Hank had to concede that he may be right. There's no telling what he would or wouldn't do just to screw with someone, and K had been far too much fun for him to screw with in the past.

…...

In the cell, K rose up quietly, backing away from Creed as he slid down to a prone position on the cot, watching her as he reclined.

"You comin' back tomorrow, girl?" he asked as she reached the barrier.

"No. I don't think so." she said quietly. The door behind her opened just long enough for her to slip out. As she turned toward the lab, his voice echoed down the hall.

"More of it's true than not, K. Like it or not, he's just like me. You just _think_ you picked the lesser of two evils." Unseen by K, but not missed by Hank, he turned his face into the spot where she'd sat, smiling to himself as he rolled onto his back. Hank's eyebrows drew together as he watched the action.

…...

She was shaken when she stepped into the lab, silent as she processed all he'd told her. She didn't even realize that Logan and Hank were waiting for her when she closed the door to the cells behind her. He had to call out to her twice and mentally reach for her before she looked at him, coming off as almost surprised, though terribly relieved to see him there when she did finally see him.

"I need to talk to Charles." she said as their eyes met. He nodded, offering her his arm, which she took so gently he wasn't sure what to make of it. He barely felt the weight of her hands on him. They were in the elevator when he finally broke the silence.

"You alright, darlin'?"

"Yeah, I just need to have Charles sift through what he told me. I don't want to try to figure it out. I just want to forget it." she replied, looking at the floor as her voice trailed off. Just before the doors opened, he stepped in front of her and tenderly kissed her forehead.

"He shouldn't have sent you in there." he said before giving her a little squeeze, Creed's scent lightly on her hair, raising his hackles. She agreed, but frankly, she was a bit sick. Like Daken, his blame was misplaced. The knowledge of the number of women that her husband had loved, or been close to – even for a short time – that had died at Creed's hand simply by association had her sick. Was there some truth to what he had to say? Creed had said he and Logan were two sides to the same coin. They'd been friends. Partners. For years. K sighed to herself as she approached Charles' office. She really had nothing to be upset with Logan for. Not really. He didn't know every detail about her past either, after all. It appeared they both had a similar policy of sharing only what was pertinent. The idea of it though had her wondering if there was something in her past that would eventually come up and cause trouble between them. She sighed, realizing he was wondering if Creed could tell her something that would turn her against him.

_Please, come in_. Charles' voice echoed in her head. She had to smile to herself a bit. Living with telepaths was somewhat entertaining after a while. "I understand your visit with Creed went better than we'd anticipated." K nodded and made a beeline to the chair nearest him, ready to tell him everything she could that he hadn't overheard.

"Of course, I understand now _why_ you had me speak with him." K started to say as she leveled her glare at Charles. "And you must know how much of a breach of trust this has been between you and I – using me like that." Charles' eyes fell to the ground.

"It was necessary."

"I wonder what else you think is necessary. All you really learned today was that he was a born psychopath, just like Logan has been telling you for years. Like I've told you since I first came here. It's his natural state. Killing is like breathing for him. He loves it and does it without any thought."

"I was hoping I could help him."

"He has no conscience, Charles. His sense of right and wrong stops with how it effects him. You can't help him to mature – he will terminally have the selfishness of a spoiled brat." K said critically. "He wants what he wants and has no regard for anyone elses property."

"That includes women." Charles said quietly, looking up at her finally. K's anger faltered as she nodded silently. "You're disturbed by what he's admitted to you."

"I had figured out how he thought he felt about me a long time ago." K said softly. She hated her mutation in that moment. Convinced now that Creed wouldn't have ever bothered her had she been human. It also made her wonder if Logan would have ever had an attraction to her, were it not for her over concentration of pheromones.

…...

Charles called Logan into his office shortly after K left.

"She's troubled by what Creed had to say." Charles told him before he could sit down.

"That surprise you for some reason?" Logan asked, steeling himself for bad news. Charles shook his head.

"It would take much more than Creed to shake her faith in you, my friend." Charles told him. "He has it in his head to take her from you." Charles explained. "She's blaming herself for his attraction." Logan had to shake his head out a bit for that. What the hell was she thinking?

"I need to talk to her. She needs to know the rest of the story with him." Logan said suddenly, interrupted by the sound of pounding hooves that reached their ears as she ran a horse past the house, both men looking out the window to find her, bareback and bridle less as she leaned far forward, her mount snorting, pushing himself to run faster for her, the expression on her face serious in the flash that they saw it.

"Yeah. She's gonna be a little while." Logan said, shaking his head. Maybe he'd do well to hit the danger room while the kids played with Jubilee.

…...

When he came in from the danger room, hours later, the smell of horse sweat, hay and dirt hit him as he walked into their bedroom. She was passed out on the bed, not even having changed from her ride, her boots still on her feet that hung over the edge of the bed, clods of wet dirt stuck to them, bits of grass. Smirking, he sauntered up and picked up her foot, waking her as he pulled her boot off.

"Hey lover." she said sleepily as she propped herself up on her elbows. "You don't have to do that." When the second boot hit the ground he simply slid over her, kissing her as she smiled at him.

"Did I do something to get the special treatment?" she asked as he reached between them, unbuckling her belt. He just shook his head as he continued stripping her, ending by pulling her to her feet and toward the bathroom.

"Hop in the shower. I'll be right in." he instructed, kissing her neck before he let her go. She didn't argue – she knew the smell of horses was strong on her – overwhelming her own scent at the moment, so she quickly started to wash. Her hair hadn't grown much since she'd been burned the day before. She hated having to regrow her hair. It always came in relatively slow for her. It would still be able to be pulled into a ponytail in a few days, but she was planning on wearing a hat until she thought it was presentable. She was washing her face when Logan slipped in with her, ready to wash off the thick layer of sweat he'd accumulated in the danger room, his scent heavy in the small space as he slid his hand across her belly, pulling her close as he began kissing her shoulder.

"Short hair's kinda cute on ya." he growled. She had to smile, knowing he'd likely complement the shape of her head if she was bald. She turned to face him, grinning in spite of herself when she saw the expression on his face.

"You're hopeless." she said running her hands up his neck.

"Just when it comes to you." he replied, not bothering to wash at all before pressing her into the wall while the hot water cascaded over his shoulders.

…...

Jean looked frustrated when K took a seat next to her the next morning as Logan brought her coffee to her. The little redhead was tapping her fingers on the table, staring out the windows with a fire in her eyes. When Logan slid next to his wife, coffee in hand and kissing her behind the ear, her glare quickly shifted to him.

"I can't work with that son of yours. He shuts me out instantly as soon as I walk in the room." Jean spit out. Logan grimaced and stared down at K's hand, sliding his over hers. He'd run out of ideas for Daken nearly as soon as he'd met him. The man was of a one track mind. "I'm bringing him breakfast in a bit, and I don't know what to say to him. I need him to let me in." K squeezed her husbands fingers as she leaned into his chest.

"I'll do it." K said quietly. "Take your time to figure out how you want to approach him. Maybe he'll be more willing to work with you if he thinks he'll have to put up with me instead." Logan stiffened at the offer as Jean considered it, finally nodding slowly as she formulated a plan of action.


	27. Mind Games

Daken looked genuinely surprised when K appeared with his food. She didn't say a word to him, just delivered the meal and turned around to leave. She was almost to the door out when he called out to her.

"Aren't you going to lecture me too?" he said expecting her to turn around.

"Nope." she replied, not even looking over her shoulder or breaking stride as she stepped out, closing the door soundly behind her. He was perplexed. He was sure she'd take the opportunity to say _something_ to him. Everyone else that had come in did. He sat back down on his cot, wondering what her game was.

…...

"What the hell was that?" Jean said, staring at her from behind the monitor with Logan and Hank. K looked back, wide eyed.

"What?"

"You didn't even _try_ to talk to him."

"So. He doesn't want to talk, least of all to me, so why bother? He can be quiet and just sit there as far as I care." K replied. Logan watched her a moment, finally nodding in agreement. It made sound sense. Trying to get him to talk was a waste of time, frustrating whoever was attempting it. Maybe this would frustrate him. The act repeated itself at lunch, where he was angered by her appearance.

"What's this? You're stepping in as my keeper?" Daken hissed at her. She stopped just long enough to look at him before she answered.

"Kind of. You've been shitty to everyone else who's tried to help you or talk to you, so I'm the only one now that's willing to make sure you don't starve." she said looking him in the eyes. "You're welcome. See ya in a few hours." she said, turning away and walking out as he narrowed his eyes at her. He ignored her for the next few meals and she made no move to even try to talk to him, generally not saying a word unless he spoke to her first, sometimes not even then. It was nearly three days before he was waiting for her. She acted as if he wasn't there, dropping off his meal and turning to leave without a word. He called out to her to wait, he wanted to talk to her. She didn't break stride.

"Sorry. On my way out. Maybe next time." she said, closing the door behind her, and for a moment, his anger cracked. He started to wonder if she was genuinely as uninterested as she appeared. He'd assumed this was some juvenile silent treatment, but now he wasn't sure. The next day he was waiting for her again.

"Hey. Don't run off." he said perfectly calmly. She sighed and took a moment to look him in the eyes.

"Why?" she said, one eyebrow arched up as she crossed her arms.

"Well, I'd like to talk to you." Daken said with his most charming grin.

"Sure you do. What do you want to talk to me about?"

"Well, I think you owe me an apology." he said, shifting his stance on the beam he leaned on.

"For what exactly?" K asked, amused.

"Well, you did try to neuter me. Only time in my life I didn't enjoy my balls in someone's mouth." he said with a smirk, pouring on the charm. K thought it over for a moment. He thought he had her.

"No." She said after a moment, looking toward the ceiling and shaking her head slightly. "I don't think so." His facade of charm slipped away in an instant.

"What do you mean, no?" he said, shock in his voice.

"If anything, you owe _me_ an apology." K replied, giving him half a beat before she turned on her heel. She was nearly to the door when he spoke up.

"I'm sorry I stabbed you and threw you out of that helicopter." he said, shocking her into pausing mid step. She turned to look at him over her shoulder. "I almost came back for you." She couldn't read a lie on his face, which didn't really surprise her. Logan had said he was nothing if not a talented liar. She waited to hear what else he might have to say. He sighed and slid his hands into his jeans, looking like a kid that got busted for sneaking off with the last cookie.

"I'll keep that in mind." she said finally, continuing to the door. "Oh, Akihiro, I'm sorry I split your skull." she said quietly as she made her way out. He grinned to himself as the clang of the door echoed in the chamber.

It was another week before he tried to talk to her again.

…...

Creed on the other hand was getting progressively more irritated. He'd requested only her, and so far, she'd refused to show, various team members taking turns at being verbally abused by the monster. When Logan showed, it was the like throwing gas on a fire.

"You're the last person I wanna look at, Runt. Why don't you send that pretty little piece my way? I'd like to get her in here again for a little while." he growled out. "Afraid she'll change her mind about ya and go for a real man?" Logan just scoffed.

"Even if I were to croak right now, she'd never – and I mean_ never_ give you a shot. She ain't interested. At all. Never was. Never will be. You just ain't good enough for her." Logan replied.

"And you think you are?" Creed growled back. "You ain't half the man I am." Logan smirked.

"She sure seems to think otherwise." he said easily. If looks could kill, they could test Logans' theory right then. As it was, Creed made a lunge for him anyhow, the energy barrier bending millimeters from Logan's face as he calmly stood there, looking at Creed as if he were a petulant child moments before the barrier flung him backward with the same force he'd exerted on it, slamming him into the adamantium laced walls with a crash. He took a moment to pull himself from the floor, irritated to find Logan still in the same spot, clearly not bothered at all by his outburst.

"She's _mine, _Creed. Nothin' you can do or say is gonna change that." Logan said with a calm, even tone, finally turning his back on him and walking leisurely away to Creeds' rising growls.

…...

"K. Wait." Daken said as she barely flicked her eyes to his before turning to walk away. "I'm serious! Don't leave yet, damn you!" she slowed to a stop just before the door out. Dropping her head and slumping her shoulders.

"Something wrong with your tea?" K said without turning.

"No. I want to talk." he said for the first time with what K thought might be some honesty.

"I'll see if anyone's available." she said raising her arm to open the door. He was taken back, sure that she'd take the chance to try to crack him like all the others had. He floundered for a reply – something to sound more sincere.

"I meant to you." she didn't reply. He could sense he was losing her interest. "I'd like to speak with my father too." She sighed before answering him.

"I'll let him know." she replied quietly, making no acknowledgment that she'd heard his request to speak to her.

…...

Charles and Logan made their way to see Daken, they were gone no more than an hour when they returned looking pensive.

"He wants to talk to you." Charles stated – he was stunned. Logan was just shaking his head at her.

"Apparently you get under his skin." he said with a smirk, pulling her close and kissing her. She shrugged. "Not that I'm surprised."

"I didn't do anything." K said innocently.

"That's kind of the whole point. He's used to people trying to get him on their side or caving when he pours on the charm. He's not used to being blown off. It bugs him." he said with a grin. She just slid her hand into his back pocket as she slipped to his side, waiting for him to lead the way.

"Well, are you going to talk to him?" Jean asked as she sat on Hank's desk, having watched the conversation between the three in the cells. K looked indifferent.

"I'll think about it." she replied. Logan chuckled.

"You're gonna drive him nuts." He said to her. "You know that's not gonna be anything but trouble."

"I'm quakin' in my boots." K replied dryly. "He's already nuts, and you should know better than to push me, mister." He grinned, laughing to himself about the last time she'd refused to speak to someone, smiling as he kissed the side of her head, enjoying the scent of her hair.

...

Two weeks later, Daken refused to talk to Jean or Charles until K spoke with him, finally requesting his father simply to try to get Logan to force his hand in getting K to talk.

"Why is she so damned stubborn?" he raged at Logan who simply shrugged in response.

"Just is. Can't do a damn thing about it." he replied, arms crossed as he leaned on the wall.

"_Make her_ talk to me." Daken asserted. "I know you can." Logan shook his head as he got up from the wall.

"Don't work like that." he replied. "Pushin' her just makes it worse."

"That's not what I mean. I _know _about you two and your little _bond_. Force her. She has to obey you." Logan sighed heavily.

"Don't know what yer talkin' about." Logan said gruffly, refusing to admit anything. Daken smirked as he scented out his father's lie. It was the first time he'd ever tried to lie to him, the realization of it slightly confusing Daken. All those times he'd wanted Logan to be lying to him - apparently he wasn't.

The words had no sooner left Logans' lips when the door opened with K behind it. Daken was afraid to say anything, wanting her to talk to him, but knowing now that his pushing her had been why she refused. Logan grabbed her arm as she dropped off Daken's meal, pulling her into a quick kiss and mentally asking her to please just talk to him, promising to show her his deep appreciation later.

"I'll leave you two alone." he said, K wrinkling her brow at him as he winked. They both watched him leave, not saying a word until the door was closed.

…...

When she left the room near his cell, two hours later, he was furious. More angry with her than he'd been with his father when he first found himself in his cell. NONE of his tricks worked. Not a damn one. He'd even had the telepaths convinced that he was trying to reform, but K simply let him talk, answering him with mostly simple one word answers. For hours he tried to get a good feel on her. He smirked to himself when she seemed to relax, finally chatting with him. Then she suddenly cocked her head to one side, eyes narrowed, lips parted a fraction of an inch as she locked eyes with him before telling him he was full of shit. How did she pick out his deception? He'd cranked up the pheromones, trying to force her into trusting him. It worked on his father and his band of do-gooders. How was she immune to it?

…...

Creed's level of irritation had hit a fever pitch when he finally got his wish. K appeared for just a moment, clearly with no plans to stay.

"Bout damn time, woman." He said in a huff, his hands on his hips. "It's been weeks. You gonna finally talk to me now?" She shook her head slowly, her arms hugging herself as she watched his reactions. His brow wrinkled as his anger ratcheted back up.

"I don't want anything to do with you. Ever. I just came down to make sure I was perfectly clear, telling you in person, face to face since you don't seem to get it."

"No, _you _don't get it. I saw you first. I staked my claim, and you've fought me every damn step of the way." He growled out as she shook her head.

"Don't try to act like you ever wanted to do anything but torture and kill me. You _sold me_ to that lab." she said in a very even voice. "Whatever weird claim you have in your head? That's all it is. In your head. I've never been anything to you until you found out I was with Logan." she turned to walk away when he just couldn't keep it to himself.

"You're right. But be sure you understand, frail – you belong to him – like one of his damn swords. Just breeding stock. That's all you are. That's all they wanted you for in that lab and here you are with him, and you didn't even have to be forced into it. _That part you did on your own._" he purred out to her. "Look in the mirror, girl. You don't stack up to the girls he really falls for. You're no Fox, or Mariko, or Jean." He watched the weight his words had on her and thrilled in it. "You're just a shrimpy little piece a tail. Hey, lets face it, if it weren't for the scent, you'd have been a one night stand." He knew he'd hit home when she held her breath. Grinning, he watched her try to shake it off, pleased with himself for once again, finding a weakness and tearing into it like a dog on a bone. He couldn't have cut to her fears any quicker had he been a telepath.

…...

She ignored the girls when they tried to flag her down, asking her to take them shopping. She didn't even seem to realize they were there as her speed increased the closer she got to the front door. It was raining gently outside, but she really didn't care. She needed to run until the thoughts were gone from her head. She knew that really, Creed was just trying to get under her skin. How did he know exactly how to hit her though? How did he know that was the one misgiving she'd had since Hank had theorized what he had about the feral mutation?

…...

The little ones were playing in the living room when Logan went through, looking for his wife. He'd heard what Creed had done from Hank, who was monitoring the cell when K saw him. Only after Creed had said what he had did Hank think how it may have been something that K had already worried about. The fact that she hadn't saddled up a horse had Logan more concerned. She needed out and away badly enough that she didn't want to slow down to even pull a horse. Even if he didn't have a tap directly to her emotions, that action in itself was enough for anyone to see she was overly upset.

He was furious over Creeds' manipulation of her. Particularly since he was so wrong. He weighed out chasing her down or just waiting for her to return on her own, deciding that he didn't want her coming to the wrong conclusion, he gave chase.


	28. Unexpected Moments

K's trail into the forest was hard to follow. The rain was washing away the scent and mudding up the trail, obscuring her footprints. Logan had nearly lost his temper trying to follow the quickly disintegrating trail in the now pouring rain when he found her shoes. Then her shirt – jeans. All leading a trail to the lake, where he found her floating entirely naked, just her face above the water. It was a pretty idyllic picture – her pale skin below the water, the rain hitting the lake obscuring her body from his view. He was stripped and halfway into the lake himself before he realized it, swimming out to her. When he touched her arm, she pulled back, upright now, her wet hair slicked down onto her head as she looked at him as if he had simply materialized.

Before she could say a word, he pulled her close and kissed her, their feet barely touching bottom. The cool water became a vibrant contrast to his hot skin as he rested his hands on her.

"Any reason for the skinny dippin' – or you just feel the need to get naked without me?" he asked as she bit her bottom lip, her eyes downcast.

"Well, I was already wet – you know. In for a penny, in for a pound." she replied as she slid down so her chin was under the water, thinking of floating again as the rain let up, Logan following her lead as they slipped into deeper water. It always surprised her when the cold water suddenly seemed much warmer than the air on her wet skin.

"I know what he said to you." He said quietly. "He doesn't know what he's talkin' about, darlin'." She looked distant as she replied.

"Yeah." she said, the tiniest tremor in her voice, "But it is something I've worried about." His hand slid up to cradle her face as he tried to make her look him in the eyes. "You don't need to say anything. I _know_ how you feel. *sigh * It just doesn't stop me from doubting myself. I'll get past it." He shook his head as he turned her face up to his.

"I started to fall for you the day we met. You took my breath away. You were freshly showered – smelled like fresia and roses from using Jean's God awful soap and your face was beat to hell from a rifle butt to your temple. Then ya had to go and scare the shit outta me. I thought I'd lost you before I got a chance to steal a kiss." He smirked as she allowed him to pull her in tightly to him. "When Hank was changing you into that stupid hospital gown I was hoping like hell you'd fight again so I could pin ya down. Had to hold myself back from tearin' his goddamn arms off for tyin' ya down."

She shook her head and grimaced.

"Seems to be testament to Creed being right." she said doubtfully. He shook his head.

"If he was right, I wouldn't have noticed you until _after_ scenting you for the first time. Weren't you listening? There wasn't any of your own scent on you. You smelled like flowers."

"Yeah, Jean's flowers." she scoffed.

"I hated that soap." he growled. "Told her to throw it out a dozen times. Made my nose itch." she smiled at his commentary. He chuckled a little. "Hell, probably why she kept it. Knew it was hard for me to be near her like that."

"So what did it?" she asked. "I've seen the women you've fallen for in the past, and I don't stack up. " He sighed. He hated talking about this crap, but he knew she needed to hear it, even if she didn't want to admit it. Hell, he damn near had the wind knocked out of him when he heard what Creed had said to her.

"First of all, you're wrong. Remember that. Hell, maybe you need to look in the mirror a little closer, but the fact is you pulled me in. It was instant. Helps too that you were the prettiest damn thing I ever saw."

"Uh huh." she said doubtfully as he squeezed her a little tighter. "So, by the time we got into that clearing in the woods?"

"I knew I had to have you." he said seriously. She blushed under his stare, earning another smirk. "That kiss … hell, the more I got to know ya, the better you got, sweetheart. Your scent is just the tip of the iceberg."

"That kiss." K said quietly, a smoldering look in her deep brown eyes as she returned his smirk, "Yeah, you can still get me naked just from thinking about that kiss."

"I can't smell you at all right now, darlin'." he said with a twinkle to his eyes. She nodded.

"Nothing but rainwater, really." she agreed as she swam a little further away from him. He wouldn't let her go far though, holding her hand tightly, he reeled her back in, his desire not dampened at all by the water. The two of them took a little time to center themselves, enjoying the simple sensation of the cool water against the heat of each other as they fooled around in the lake.

…...

As it turned out, Jean had to call out for them to come in, laughing out loud when Logan asked her to try again when the students were in bed unless she was ready for them to come up naked. She turned to her husband, red faced.

"What do they expect to do until the kids are in bed?" she said, scandalized.

"I'll give you three guesses, honey – they're naked already, after all." Scott replied. "Though, we could send Bobby down there with a couple towels, threatening to freeze the lake." She grinned and called Bobby over, sure that the feral pair didn't need any more excuses to have sex in creative places, let alone when most of the mansion knew where they were and what they were up to. Suspicion was one thing – the ability for just about anyone to look out to the lake and see the two of them far too close in the water …. another story all together. She laughed even harder when ten minutes later, Bobby practically flew past them with Logan hot on his heels, stark naked and swearing up a blue streak, frost in his hair. She stopped laughing however when K slipped past them on her way to their room leisurely taking her time as she went by, just as naked as he was, the few students and teachers still around watching her open mouthed as she passed, Scott included. Apparently, Bobby thought it would be funnier if he didn't bring the towels.

…...

It took months of preparation, but finally, the day was approaching for Fury to come for both of the captives that had been residing at the Institute. K had since refused to have any further contact with Creed, following Logan's advise finally to just keep away from him entirely. She was even ignoring Charles' request to help him – insisting that reform was simply not an option for Creed, and she adamantly ignored any attempted guilt trips from any of the telepaths as they tried in vain to persuade her to help them with him.

On the other hand, she had started to spend more time with Daken. It seemed as though they'd reached a bit of a cease fire. She refused to tell him much about herself, or her past – and nothing about the children she had with Logan. Instead, they simply chatted when he'd request her presence, or when very rarely, she'd take the initiative to visit him. She was guarded, sure that he was simply trying to find her weaknesses. She was only partly right.

He'd never had a womans influence in his life, not since his foster mother died that is, and she was no prize. He didn't see K in that role, but he found that much of what Romulus had told him about women was off base. She wasn't weak – she was instead fiercely protective of her family – Logan included. When he said she was little more than an animal, she simply asked him what made him think he was any better.

"You _are_ trying to kill your father, after all. If that isn't a wanna be alpha wolf pack kind of thing, I don't know what is." She said one afternoon as she leaned back on the bench across from the door of his cell.

"No, you've got it wrong – that's what they do to control the pack. I just -"

"Want to be the big dog." K finished. "Want the old alpha out of the way and for everyone to acknowledge you as better? Doesn't matter if it kills the pack, you want to take him down." He stared at her open mouthed. He'd never thought of it that way. He shook his head, almost violently before launching into a long winded explanation of Bushido, which, of course, she'd heard before from her Samurai husband.

"Woof." she cut in, stopping him in his tracks.

"Shut up. That's not it at all." he growled out.

"Then how about this. You were lied to – _you know _you were lied to – which, by definition was a less than honorable thing for your mentor to do – but I digress. Still, you believe the lies rather than give your father a shot, while using every chance you can to convince yourself and everyone around you that you're doing the honorable thing in trying to treat your _father_ like a dog."

"So, you want me to give him a chance – just forget all of it and be an X-Man?"

"Hell no. You start hanging around I'm going to have to share him with you. No thank you." she teased as she stood up, Daken smirking at the thought. That would _never _happen. "I just want you to make your own life. If he – and I, if you'd like, are to be part of it, fine. Or, if it's just that you need me to kick your ass from time to time, consider me on call."

In the end, he chose to try to let it go – at least for the time being. He opted to simply do as Romulus had told him from the beginning and leave his father alone, though he'd never tell K that.

When Fury came to retrieve him, K was the one advocating to remove the muzzle he'd worn all this time, solely for the purpose of letting him shave – something she knew Daken really wanted to do.

The day he and Creed left the Institute was a quiet one. Everyone was prepared for all hell to break loose, tense and ready to spring, but it was smooth and without a single snag. In fact, the only part that was unplanned that anyone was taken back by was when little Abbey slipped out past Kitty, rushing to her parents as Daken was being taken into custody. He stopped in his tracks when he saw her pulling on K's leg. She picked her up and little Abbey turned to look at him, leaning her head on her mother's shoulder as she watched him with those brilliant icy blue eyes they shared with their father. He didn't know what to do when she waved at him sadly, saying 'bye bye brother'. The fact that she knew who he was stunned him. Suddenly, he had a million questions for K and Logan. Clearly, the little girl didn't know the extent that he'd gone to try to kill either of them. What did they tell her? He cleared his throat and told her goodbye with a little smile, and to be good for her mother as the SHIELD agents loaded him up.

…...

Just about the time it seemed that things were getting quiet, K and several of her best riding students were enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon riding in the arena. The students were prepping for K's obstacle course, excitement aver the annual test was getting higher as they got closer and no one but K had seen it. She was working a young horse that one of the newest students had brought with when she came to the school. K had been riding the horse almost exclusively for two months, and the hot chestnut mare was mostly coming along, but was unbelievably spooky. The girl was watching her from the bleachers with Logan, who had gotten back from a mission a little earlier than anticipated and had left the little ones sleeping with Jean just so he could watch K work. All at once, everything went to hell. A massive horsefly bit Zoe's horse on the backside where neither Zoe or the horse could reach, causing it to buck her off hard and take off bucking and crow hopping. Chloe's horse spooked sideways at the loose horse, though she managed to keep on, possibly due to her asking the horse to settle with her abilities. The mare K was on seemed to be alright until the bucking horse kicked it in the face in passing. The mare screamed out, rearing up high. K pushed her reins forward and grabbed mane, leaning as far forward as she could, but it was too late, the mare began back pedaling and all at once her back feet went out from under her and over she went – squarely on top of her rider with a huge echoing crack. Logan jumped up, running hard for her, the only thing he could focus on was K's limp form as the horse got back up and started to run, dragging her by her foot caught up in the stirrup. It wasn't too far before her foot slipped out of the boot and the horse continued on, leaving K in a bloodied mess, spread eagle at the center of the arena. He kneeled next to her as Jubilee made to catch the loose mare, Zoe already having gotten her horse under control.

"Sweetheart, Come on – look at me." he said as he leaned over her, brushing her hair out of her face as she started to come around. "What the hell broke?" he asked, nervous as to what or how she could have broken anything at all. When she opened her eyes, she took a moment to gather, moaning a little as she tried to not move.

"Is Zoe OK?" she asked breathlessly.

"Yeah, she's fine. Standin' right there - what about you? What broke, damnit?" He growled out.

"Bleeding inside. Hurts. Just. Wait." she said quietly as he worried over her. He knew she'd be fine, but he still didnt' want to move her, pulling up her shirt to see where the damage was centered. She didn't even try to stop him. Her entire torso was blooming a very dark black as blood trickled from her mouth.

"Damnit K. What the fuck broke?" he asked, his voice tense, afraid she'd popped something loose.

"Saddle."

"What?"

"Saddle tree broke. Snapped in half." A little while later, she sat up with his help, the black bruise still not fading even a tiny bit. "Sonofabitch. Where is my boot?" she asked thickly. He sighed. She must be alright, or well on her way.

"Come on, lets get you inside." he said, shaking his head as he pulled her up, his arm around her to hold her upright. Jesus. Had she been 'normal' she'd probably be in traction right now.

"Not yet." she replied as he tried to guide her to the gate. "Jubes, bring that mare over here." Jubes looked nervous, but did as K asked, walking both her horse and the mare that had flipped, who was shaking like a leaf. K walked to the horses' side, pulling the broken saddle off her and showing the students around how it had broken before pulling Jubilee's saddle too and hauling it onto the nervous mare.

"What the hell-" Logan started before K cut him off.

"Gotta get back on, love. Can't leave her after a wreck like that." he looked murderous as she asked him for a leg up on the now freshly saddled mare. "Come on. If I don't, someone has to. You're not a trainer and I'm not asking any of these kids to get on this mare until I know she's over the rearing." He glared at her with his best 'I am _so_ not happy with you' stare. Once seated well, the mare started to dance until K got her moving again, the horse more nervous as she passed the other horses and at the spot where she'd gone over backwards. K kept riding her with a little smile until the mare settled a bit then quickly slid off.

"Now what." Logan growled out.

"Now, I guess I start looking for another saddle. That one's shot."

"I don't care about the saddle, woman."

"Oh. Well, now I ride her three times a day instead of two until she's safe again." K replied. The little girl that owned her was in tears, terrified that her teacher had been hurt. "Oh, Cat, I'd rather she did it with me than with you. It's fine, unless you're scared of her." The girl was scared, but K only amended her plan with the mare to make sure she was safe then sell her for the girl. The two ferals argued all the way back to the house as the teens put away the horses. Logan advocating that K take it easy, K arguing that he was being overprotective.

The girls were looking at the damaged saddle. It could fold nearly in half now, it had broken so cleanly, the saddle horn broken at a bad angle too. They didn't know it, but the horn broke when the horse got up, snapping free as it pulled on K's ribcage. Logan was dragging her to Hank to be looked over as they examined the damage.

"If this had happened to one of us -" Zoe started.

"We'd be dead, probably." Chloe finished as the girls started imagining what kind of damage K had just sustained, and likely already partially healed from.

"That's why she won't let anyone ride any of the horses here until she clears them." Jubilee supplied. "Remember that Arabian? She finally let it go when it bashed her into the wall a dozen times."

"She's been using herself like a crash test dummy for us." Paige added.

"We should do something nice for her before we go to college." Emmett added. All were in agreement, but none knew what to do.


	29. The Bet

When classes ended for the year, it was an especially bittersweet time. As usual, the big event of the finals week was K's obstacle course. Once again, she'd found a way to make it new, adding different levels of challenges for the different levels of riders. The staff of course also making the run themselves as usual, but the years newest addition however, was that the parents of many of the students were in attendance to cheer the kids on as well.

K and Logan's annual race was a particularly memorable one. They trash talked before the race, picking at each other and teasing – Logan pinching her ass before they got lined up to run. It was all the more entertaining as he beat her out by half a length. She took her loss in good spirit though as he tore her off her horse, laughing with him as they both grinned, kissing at the finish line, the populous of the school divided sharply between cheers and boos while he promised to claim his prize later. When he let her loose and the cat calls died down she began her award presentation. Before she could get too far though, she was interrupted by Jubilee.

Her oldest students had arranged something for her this year, unbeknownst to most of the staff. She was taken entirely by surprise when the eight graduating students came out with a new saddle for her. It was something that Logan knew she needed, but refused to buy for herself, saying that if she needed one that badly, she'd just do what she always did and win one at a rodeo somewhere. It was a sweet gesture, though one that showcased how grown up they'd all gotten, and next fall, Jubilee and the sisters would all be in college off campus. Although he would never admit it, Logan was hit particularly hard by Jubilee's near constant show of maturity as of late.

He'd watched out for her since she was thirteen, and now, after years with the X-Men, following him around the world, fighting to _save_ the world, and somehow growing up too, she was leaving him. K was trying to be especially considerate of him right now in light of this, pretty much giving him anything he wanted.

Chloe and Zoe took K's new saddle to the barn, both of them giving her a quick hug before leaving her standing with Logan, the little ones in the house already with Kitty and Michael as the stands of students and parents cleared out.

"You alright?" K asked him as he watched Jubilee walk away, arm in arm with Emmett. He just nodded, though she was sure he was full of it. "They're not dating, you know."

"Oh yeah? Why's he got his hand on her ass then?" Logan growled out as K looked toward them, her eyebrows raised.

"Huh. New development?" K said quietly as she leaned on the fence, looking for a way to change the subject. "So," she started shyly. "What would you like for your prize, Mister finally beat me?" She was hoping maybe distraction would help Jubilee's case. He grinned as he turned to her.

"Well now. That's something I'd like to talk about." he replied, his tone something that set her on edge. "How often have I beat you on horseback?" he asked. K just half laughed as she shrugged. It actually hadn't happened before. "Seems like I should get somethin' really worth my efforts." he said, the look on his face something K was not prepared for. Her face fell as she put it together.

"Uh-uh. No way. That's not on the table, Logan. I already told you no more kids. At least for now, so get that damn twinkle outta your eyes before I knock it out." K said sternly as he pulled her to him by her belt loops. His smile just grew from a smirk as his hand slipped higher up the back of her tank top.

"Wanna go for double or nothin', feisty?" he said in a growl as he leaned in to kiss her neck. Whenever he did this, she melted, and he knew it.

"NO, I do not. You'll just cheat. Logan, please. Get real. Pick something else. Anything else." she replied as he lifted her hair off her shoulder, sliding the strap to her tank top off her shoulder so he could work his way down from her ear. "Sexual favors for a month on demand. How about that?" she tried to keep her stern tone.

"Nope. You'd do that anyhow if I asked. Double or nothin'. Come on – I promise I'll make it worth your while." her heart was racing as she bit her lip, leaning into the crook of his neck.

"This was supposed to be something fun – not something serious." she said insistently.

"You know what I want, and I'm offerin' you an out." he replied low. "Can't ask for more than that."

"I'm not ready." she said smiling nervously.

"Alright, fine – I'll just tie you up then." she stiffened in his arms, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Wait. _This _is what you wanted anyhow isn't it." he just grinned in response.

"I'd like both, but I'll leave it up to you. How's that – I gave _you _a choice." he kept kissing her neck, his hands wandering. She was terrified of being tied up and he knew it. He had tried telling her to trust him, which she did, but she was still afraid of it. She found herself seriously weighing out just giving him the green light for another baby instead. They'd discussed it in passing before, particularly since Jean had brought it up to them. Now she wondered if he'd gotten Jean to bring it up for him. Outside of that, she didn't realize how just a little casual mention would kick him off like this. When she'd asked what he thought about one more a few weeks beforehand over coffee – purely out of curiosity - she truly didn't expect him to jump on board immediately.

"Okay." she whispered.

"Okay what." he asked, now kissing his way to her mouth, her heart racing all the while. He kissed the sense out of her, anticipating either direction, sure she'd take the easier route and opt for the ropes.

"Double or nothin', stud." he was stunned enough to stop kissing her entirely and stare at her a moment. "But not with horses, and not today." she clarified. He shook his head lightly. "Gotta go by something neither of us has an advantage in."

"You sure?" he teased "Don't want ya havin' second thoughts." She chuckled the tiniest bit.

"Of course I'm not sure, but you're pushing so, here's the terms. You win, you get both – I win, you drop it until _I_ bring it up again_._"

"If I'm gonna get what I want anyhow, why don't cha just skip the game and pick which you want first?" he growled out.

"Or you can just pick something else entirely if you're afraid you'll get beat. The ball is in your court, love." Her tone was soft, but her eyes were hard. She was going to try for the out. At least a temporary out.

"Alright. When I win, I pick the timeline." he said with a smirk.

"If."

"Sure. _If._"

…...

The next evening the games began. Jubilee and the sisters were watching all the kids and having a fine time watching movies while Kitty and Piotr took a well deserved date night. K approached Logan with a paper grocery bag.

"Everything we need is in here." she told him, setting the bag on the counter. His interest piqued, he set his newspaper down and had to take a look.

"You got two bottles of whiskey and a pair of inhibitor collars. What the hell is this?" he asked with a smile and one eyebrow raised.

"Well, I started thinking – you're Irish, and I'm Swedish – both nationalities are known for their ability to hold their liquor, so … I'm gonna drink you under the table, sweetheart." K replied, her eyebrow arched.

"Two bottles ain't gonna do it."

"That's where the inhibitors come in." she pointed out. "Hank has agreed to keep us from going so far as to need medical intervention, but I'm getting you drunk. Whoever falls first loses." He grinned. This was gonna be a cake walk.

"So, where we doin' this thing?" he asked, his mood rising as he thought of how much fun K drunk off her ass could potentially be.

"Game room. I'm gonna kick your ass on the pool table too." she replied with a smirk. "Best part? If the girls have trouble with the kids, we just pull the collars and viola – sober parents again."

"You've put some thought into this." he said, picking up the bag with the whiskey, following her lead to the game room. She just smiled over her shoulder as she answered.

"Yep. Been wanting to do this for a long time."

...

There was a small crowd waiting for them in the game room. Most of the resident X-Men were waiting to place their bets while Hank - who had become determined to be the referee – was making sure neither somehow cheated as they carried out their little competition.

"Before we get started, may I ask what the stakes are that you're playing for?" Hank asked. The couple shared a sly smile and Logan shook his head.

"Nope. Just a private bet." he replied as she grinned. There was no way she was going to beat him.

"Alright then," Hank said wearily as he handed each of them a collar. "Snap them on then I'll activate them." They looked at each other a moment and slipped them onto each other, K flinching when they snapped shut. A button push on the controller was all it took to negate their healing capabilities for the evening. He then handed them each a bottle of whiskey and a shot glass. "No drinking ahead of the other, you each have someone to pour and keep track for you," he said, nodding to Kurt and Sean. "So with that, before we begin – ladies and gentlemen, place your bets." Sean took the bottle from K and poured her a shot, shaking his head at her as their friends made their bets amongst themselves, the odds stacked against her with Bobby acting as bookie.

"Are ye sure this is the way to settle a bet, lass?" Sean asked, looking concerned for her. Logan was waiting for her, glass raised. She took one look at her smirking husband – so sure he was going to win. She answered simply by raising her glass to him.

"Skål!" she said to him before throwing the shot back, her face expressionless as she lowered her glass, not taking her eyes from him. He grinned and mirrored her action.

"And so it begins." Hank said with a smile. "You will each take a shot every ten minutes." K nodded and picked up a pool cue.

"Ready to lose love?" she asked with a smirk.

"Not tonight, darlin'." he replied, the two of them already sounding far too competitive for what appeared to be an easy contest.

…...

Six shots in and both were getting loose. K laughed to herself as she realized her lips were going numb. Her stoic look was unnerving as she waited for Sean to hand her the seventh shot of the night, both of them swaying a bit before throwing them back. As he set his glass down, he watched her do the same.

"You can quit, darlin'. Don't gotta push it all the way." Logan told her.

"Oh no. This goes until one of us hits the ground." she replied. "This is a matter of pride. Swedes don't quit on a drinking contest – not even to you."

"Sweetheart, you can't win this."

"Yes, I can." she replied stubbornly as he pulled her close for a kiss. She didn't fight him on it, but he realized she really was handling it well. Sure she swayed, but not any worse than he did.

…...

Two hours and twelve shots later, the drunken pool tournament was irretrievable. Neither one could hit the cue let alone land even the simplest of shots and it wasn't long before they decided to move on to something else, their friends shaking their heads as the couple got wasted. Everyone but Hank had imbibed a bit themselves, the ferals inadvertently providing the entertainment for the evening. Logan was grinning like a Cheshire cat and K was giggling, the two of them not missing an opportunity to tease or paw each other as they continued on. Hank started to become concerned for their well being and sent Bobby to the lab. Maybe it was time for a breathalyzer. He was sure K was further gone than she appeared. He needed to know how bad she really was.

Bobby returned with two machines, designating Jean and Scott to administer them at the same time. Hank was shocked at the results. K's blood alcohol level was significantly higher than Logan's. He'd assumed it would be. She was simply much smaller than him all together – discounting the adamantium they both carried, he easily outweighed her by fifty pounds or better.

"No more alcohol until we've done a sobriety test – which you both are going to fail miserably." Hank informed them. There was no way the little time needed to administer the test was going to lessen the effects of what they'd done to themselves, though it was highly entertaining for their friends.

Rogue tested Logan and Gambit set up to test K. Logan dutifully bombed the test, his balance shot, his words slurred, and he _looked_ drunk as he struggled to stay upright. Gambit told K what to do and she smirked at him, shaking her head no.

"You gotta do it, chere. He gonna win otherwise. Jes imagine Remy a cop and you gotta get outta bein' arrested. You drunk, petit. You gotta do de test." he said – she had to at least start her test or Logan would win outright.

"Oh thas easy." K replied before pulling up her shirt to flash him. "See? No han-cuffs needed, officer swamprat." she replied, turning away from a hysterically laughing Remy and staggering up to Sean, who was red faced and reluctant to pour another drop for her. Add impaired judgment to K's list of drunkenness.

It was close. By the science, K was well beyond three sheets to the wind, but she was holding it together by the skin of her teeth. By Hank's estimation, she should be passed out cold. He was sure she was going to pass out, and thus lose. Logan tripped over his own feet, but caught himself at the same moment when K tripped outright, falling on her ass. She burst out laughing as Logan dropped down next to her, laughing just as hard as she did when he realized she hadn't spilled her drink in her hand.

"Oh, honey, you're wasted." he drawled out as Sean tried to take the shot back from her. The contest was over, after all.

"Look who's talkin'. C'mere." she replied. K threw back the last shot and he kissed half the whiskey out of her mouth. Things devolved from there, the two of them in a drunken stupor as they ignored their friends around them, diving straight into the heavy petting.

"We have to stop them or they're gonna have sex right here on the lawn." Jean said to Hank. He nodded, deciding that the best course of action was to turn off the collars. K didn't notice until she was suddenly not nearly so bombed.

"Hey! Turn that back on – I haven't had a buzz this good in … EVER!" she barked out. Logan nodded.

"Yeah, it's just one night. C'mon, blue – let me take my drunk ass wife to bed while she's still wasted." Logan grinned, K nodding in agreement. Their friends looked between each other, finally shrugging. What harm could it do?

"Fine. But no more alcohol." Hank told them. K bit her lip as he turned his back to them.

"How bout two more?" She called out to him.

"NO. Go now or I'll turn them off." K stuck her tongue out at him while Sean all but picked her up. Logan grinned and K was just snickering while they leaned on each other, the two still drunk enough to make walking something to concentrate on. When they got to their room, Scott made a quick sweep of the place to make sure they didn't have any hidden booze. The last thing he needed was for one of these two to end up with alcohol poisoning. When he found Logan's stash, K gave him a dirty look and called him a spoil sport. When the doors closed, Logan wasted no time in stripping down with his wife.

…...

The couple was awakened the next morning by Jean drawing back the curtains, letting the late morning sun pour in on them. Both were sporting the mother of all hangovers – totally unaccustomed to having to process alcohol that slowly.

"So, who won?" Logan asked, one eye cracked open as he rubbed the back of his neck. Jean just laughed.  
"You don't remember?" she asked, highly amused. He shook his head, as did K when she looked at her. "Oh, _that's priceless._" she replied, leaving them staring after her.

"You gonna tell me?" he asked to her retreating back.

"No. Because what you two were betting on? Should not be determined by a drinking contest." she said. "Oh, and all the money's been exchanged. I've told everyone to **not** tell you who won." The door closed behind her loudly.

"What a bitch." K complained as she pulled the covers up. Logan just laughed.

"Still got the collars on. Hair of the dog?" he asked. She just smiled.

"I'm pretty sure they took all our booze." she replied.

"Do you remember anything?" he asked as he pulled her close to him. She licked her lips as she wracked her brain, finally shaking her head slowly.

"I remember a lot of whiskey, and smack talk." she replied. "And I _may_ have flashed Remy." He laughed hard as he pulled her leg over his hip, kissing her again. He'd find a way to get it out of Remy later then.

…...

Several hours later, the collars removed, both of them re-hydrated, Logan sought out his wife. She was reading to their little ones as they laid on a bed, snuggled up with teddy bears, sleepily listening to the end of the story. Logan walked up to her, his hands shoved in his front pockets. He sat down next to her and put his arm around her as she finished their story, the little ones falling asleep as she closed the book. Logan leaned toward her and kissed her cheek.

"As much as I hate to admit it – you won." he said at just over a whisper. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at him. He was doing his level best to look irritated.

"You've never done that before." she said very quietly.

"What?"

"Lied to me." she replied. He sighed heavily before kissing her deeply.

"Yeah." he answered. "But I don't want you doin' anything you're not ready for, and I sure as hell don't want to push ya into anything." She slid her hands into his sideburns as she pulled him closer, breathless as she kissed him until he wrapped his hands around her wrists, pulling them from his head, questioning her as he broke the kiss.

"This is why it's hard for me to argue that I love you more. Things like this." She said with a small smile. He pulled her onto his lap as she continued. "And it's things like that that prove to me you're right. If you really want another one, just tell me when."

* * *

Special Thanks to all of the kind folks who have taken the time to read, review, follow or favorite this one. KJAX89, the anomalous, cowg9997 – your input has been noted, and if it wasn't integrated here, please look for it in the _next_ story in my 906 series - the first chapter will be out within the next week. If I didn't hit a thankyou on any particular chapter, please don't take it personally – I just write and edit this stuff so fast, it's up before I think of that.


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